Overview

This hands-on training course is ideal for individuals charged with the task of creating an effective survey instrument for gathering respondent data, including customer satisfaction data. In this 3-day training seminar participants will learn:

• When to use mail, telephone and in-person questionnaires, whether to use paper and pencil or computerized approaches including the Internet and how to combine the various options to best meet the needs of a specific situation.
• How to plan and flowchart a questionnaire to guide the overall logic.
• How to phrase questions; when to use open-ended and closed-ended questions and how to choose the most appropriate rating, ranking, multiple choice, check-list or other approaches.
• How to avoid the common pitfalls in writing questionnaires.
• How to design questionnaires for specialized studies dealing with concept tests, segmentation, positioning and image assessment, tracking research, customer satisfaction studies, conjoint analysis, perceptual mapping and other applications.
• How to phrase difficult questions dealing with memory, knowledge and sensitive subjects and how to measure the importance of product attributes.
• How to assess attitudes, beliefs, lifestyles, and perceptions and how to make sure that your measures are valid and reliable.
• How to administer questionnaires to substantially improve response rates - what works and what doesn't.
• What instructions to give interviewers to make certain that your questionnaires are properly administered, clarified and probed.

Agenda

Questionnaire Construction in Marketing Research

• Decision oriented marketing research and the role of questionnaire construction and data collection
• Examples of common problems in questionnaire design
• Case studies illustrating various data collection errors
• The analysis planning process and how it ties into questionnaire design
• Basic principles of questionnaire design
• Seven steps in the design of questionnaires

Planning a Questionnaire

• The art and science of questionnaire design
• A step-by-step approach to writing questionnaires that are responsive to the needs of decision makers
• Specifying and sequencing the information needs for a study
• Evaluating structured, unstructured, and disguised and undisguised approaches to data collection
• Case studies and workshops

Selecting the Best Data Collection Procedure

• Choosing the appropriate method for data collection
• Mail, telephone, in-person, CATI, CAPI, Internet and other options
• Criteria for selecting the best procedure for a variety of situations commonly encountered in marketing research, including the growing trend toward mixed modes
• Case studies and workshop

Planning and Flowcharting a Questionnaire

• Preparing a flowchart detailing the sequence of various items, callbacks, frame of reference flow, and other decisions and skip patterns/directionals
• Common symbols used in flowcharting; example flowchart
• Issues of question order
• Group participation workshop to flowchart a questionnaire and examine the logical intricacies

Deciding Question Structure

• Selecting the most appropriate type of question for the various kinds of information being sought
• Choosing between open-ended and closed-ended questions
• Multiple choice, checklists, ratings, ranking procedures and other options

• Administering various types of questions by internet, mail, over the telephone and in-person

Key Areas of Measurement: History Questions

• The types of issues asked on marketing research surveys
• Asking history questions (including frequency and percentages) and dealing with the problems they generate
• Respondent ability to remember accurately, willingness to answer truthfully, and knowledge of facts

Using Rating Scales

• Overview of considerations in using rating scales and variants
• Assessment of the type of data obtained from the scales
• Types of rating scales and such user-oriented decisions as the number of scale points, verbal descriptions, odd vs. even, balanced vs. unbalanced, etc.
• Potential impact of words on scores
• Administering rating scales on the internet, in person, over the telephone and by mail.

Key Areas of Measurement: Perceptions, Attitudes, and Intentions

• Attitudes vs. perceptions
• Critical considerations in measuring attitudes for image studies, customer satisfaction surveys, concept tests and several other applications
• Testing the validity and the reliability of the measures used
• Assessment of the type of data obtained from the scales
• Scales for measuring attitudes - developing and using techniques such as the Semantic Differential, checklists, Likert, Q-sort, and other procedures

• Asking intention (outcome, likelihood) questions

Question Wording and Related Problems

• The art of asking questions and avoiding loaded, leading, vague, double-barreled and a multitude of other problem questions
• Exercise: which quality criteria are not met; a checklist for choosing words and phrasing questions
• Asking classification questions.

Measuring Importance

• Common flaws in scales designed to measure importance of attributes
• Confusion between importance, salience, and determinance
• Procedures for directly and indirectly measuring importance
• Question wording for traditional and interactive conjoint analysis

Drafting the Questionnaire

• Introduction and screening questions
• Asking sensitive screening questions
• A checklist of do's and don'ts
• Precoding questions and planning the physical layout
• Pre-testing a questionnaire with a workshop in revising questionnaires and pre-testing

Implementing Surveys

• Suggestions for increasing response rates -- what works and what doesn't in internet, telephone and mail surveys
• Use of incentives and other considerations; probing and clarification of responses

Registration Fees

The per student registration fee for this seminar is $2,495 and includes the seminar, course materials, refreshments, and continental breakfast. Class begins at 8:30 a.m. and ends at 5:00 p.m. on the first two days and 8:30 to 4:30 p.m. on the last day.

Register securely online with confidence or please call (708) 246-0320.

Seminar Schedule

May 14-16, 2013	Chicago, IL	Location to be Assigned
July 16-18, 2013	Denver, CO	Location to be Assigned
Aug 27-29, 2013	San Francisco, CA	Location to be Assigned
Oct 16-18, 2013	Cincinnati, OH	Corporate Training Ctr
Dec 10-12, 2013	Chicago, IL	Location to be Assigned

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