Business Research Methods

Survey Research:

Survey Research• Survey research methods are used for

primary data collection

Surveys ask a respondent for information using verbal or written questioning

Surveys provide valuable information on peoples’ opinions , perceptions ,attitudes,& other personal characteristics on issues related to research problems

Surveys cannot measure behaviour

Survey Research• Surveys can be classified on the basis of

---- Methods of communications

---- Timeframe for data collections

Survey Research:

Basic Communication Methods

Communicating with Respondents

• Personal interviews• Door-to-door

• Shopping mall intercepts

• Telephone interviews

• Self-administered questionnaires

Door-to-Door Personal Interview

• It is a traditional survey method which involves consumers being interviewed at their homes

• It has direct face to face contact with the interviewee

Mall Intercept Personal Interview

• It involves stopping or intercepting shoppers in a mall at random

• Asking their willingness to participate

• Conducting the interviews right on the spot or in the research agency’s interviewing facility located at the mall

Telephone Surveys• It has come of age as one of the best cost effective

alternatives on account of various developments in telephonic interviews

• Random digit dialing as a sampling procedure

----Central location telephone interviews (CLTI)

----Computer assisted telephone interviews (CATI)

----Completely automated telephone surveys (CATS)

Central location telephone interviewing (CLTI)

• Interviewers make calls from a centrally located marketing research facility

• Wide Area Telecommunication Service (WATS) lines are used

• Facilitates unlimited long distance calls at fixed rates

• Supervisors can monitor &control the whole process

Computer assisted telephone interviewing (CATI)

• Telephonic interview responses can be directly entered into the computer

• The telephonic interviewer is seated at a computer terminal

• Closed ended questions appear on the computer screen one at a time

• Interviewer reads out the question & enters the response of the interview into the computer

• CATI technology has useful features like random selection of tel.nos, dialing them, data entry & its speedy tabulation

Completely automated telephone surveys( CATS)

• Computer uses recorded voice of a professional interviewer to ask questions

• Respondents answer by pressing number button on their telephone sets to mark their choice

• Options selected are recorded by the computer

• If respondent does not answer first couple of questions computer dials next respondent

• Produces quality data at good speed &less cost

Self Administered questionnaires• Questionnaire filled out by respondents without

intervention of interviewer

• Mostly conducted at locations with captive audiences: theatres, airports ,malls, hotels or sent through posts (mail surveys) or through e-mails/Nets

• Brief questionnaires are given to respondents & collected back either through drop box or return of mail

M A IL IN -P E R S O ND R O P -O F F

IN S E R TS F A X

P A P E RQ U E S TIO N N A IR E S

E -M A IL IN TE R N E TW E B S ITE

K IO S K

E L E C TR O N ICQ U E S TIO N N A IR E S

S E L F -A D M IN IS TE R E DQ U E S TIO N N A IR E S

Self-Administered Questionnaires

Kiosks• Kiosks are multimedia touch screen computers

• Have ability to display full colour screen images, play stereo sound clips & show videos

• Computers are pre-programmed to administer complex surveys

• Successfully tried at trade shows & now also at retail stores

• Does not involve interviewer & less expensive

There is no best form of survey; each has advantages

and disadvantages.

Selected Questions to Determine the Appropriate Technique • Is the assistance of an interviewer

necessary?

• Are respondents interested in the issues being investigated?

• Will cooperation be easily attained?

• How quickly is the information needed?

• Will the study require a long and complex questionnaire?

• How large is the budget?

Pretesting

• A trial run with a group of respondents to iron out fundamental problems in the instructions of survey design

Survey Research:

Time Frame For Data Collection

Time Frame For Data Collection

• For some research projects data can be gathered in a single survey

• Some other studies require multiple surveys & extend over a longer period of time

• Based on time period surveys are classified as

---- Cross sectional studies

-----Longitudinal studies

Cross sectional Studies

• Most commonly used in BR

• One shot research study at a given point in time

• Consists of a sample (Cross section) of population of interest

• It is simple & flexible in nature

• Analysis can be simple or complex

• To study profile of bank customers

Longitudinal Studies

• Research studies that use multiple surveys to gather data over a period of time

• Help in measuring current situations as also their variations over time

• Different types of longitudinal studies are

---- Trend Studies

----Panel Surveys

----Cohert Panels

Trend Studies

• A series of cross sectional surveys conducted at two or more points in time

• New sample taken each time is from the same segment of population originally surveyed

• Consistent questions are asked in each study• Data from several cross sectional studies are

compared to find trend in characteristics of interest

• Changes in customer satisfaction levels over a period of time

Panel Studies• A longitudinal survey that involves collecting data

from same sample units across time (Individuals, HHs, Retail stores)• Panel is a sample of respondents who have agreed

to provide information at specified intervals over an extended period

• Consumer panel to study consumption of products/brands, viewer ship of TV, readership of magazines .

• Retail panel (audit) to study products/brands stocked, shelf space allotted, sales, promotions etc

Cohort Panels• A longitudinal survey that takes process of

generation replacement explicitly into account• One or more generations are followed over their

life course• Cohort is a group of respondents who experience

the same event within the same time interval• A birth (or age) cohort is a group of people who

were born during the same time interval, say, 1951 to 1960.

• Cohort analysis is a study in which there are measures of some characteristics of two or more cohorts at two or more points in time

Cohort Panels• It is unlikely that any of the individual studied at

time one will also be in the sample at time two

• Age cohort of people between 8-19 years old was selected & their soft drink consumption was examined every 10 years for 30 years

• In other words every 10 years a different sample of respondents is drawn from population of those who then were between 8-19 years old

• Similar findings were obtained for other age cohorts

Consumption of Various Soft Drinksby Various Age Cohorts

8-1920-2930-3940-4950+

Age 1960 1969 19791950

52.945.233.923.218.1

62.660.746.640.828.8C1

73.276.067.758.650.0C2

81.075.874.468.859.9C3

C8C7C6C5C4

C1: cohort born prior to 1900C2: cohort born 1901-10C3: cohort born 1911-20C4: cohort born 1921-30

C5: cohort born 1931-40C6: cohort born 1940-49C7: cohort born 1950-59C8: cohort born 1960-69

Percentage consuming on a typical day

Cohort Panels• Consumption of cohort did not decrease as the

cohort aged (Diagonal readings)• Contradiction to common belief that consumption

of soft drink would decline with graying of America

• A single cross sectional study (each column read in isolation) leads to this erroneous conclusion

• Cohort of voters ( people with similar voting pattern during a given interval) are questioned about their voting preference to predict election results

DETAILS GIVING

ADVANTAGES &

DISADVANTAGES

OF EACH METHOD

Door-to-Door Personal Interview

• It is a traditional survey method which involves consumers being interviewed at their homes

• It has direct face to face contact with the interviewee

Door-to-Door Personal Interview

• Speed of data collection– Moderate to fast

• Geographical flexibility– Limited to moderate

• Respondent cooperation– Excellent

• Versatility of questioning– Quite versatile

Door-to-Door Personal Interview

• Questionnaire length– Long

• Item nonresponse– Low

• Possibility of respondent misunderstanding– Lowest

Door-to-Door Personal Interview

• Degree of interviewer influence of answer– High

• Supervision of interviewers– Moderate

• Anonymity of respondent– Low

Door-to-Door Personal Interview

• Ease of call back or follow-up– Difficult

• Cost– Highest

• Special features– Visual materials may be shown or

demonstrated; extended probing possible

Mall Intercept Personal Interview

• It involves stopping or intercepting shoppers in a mall at random

• Asking their willingness to participate

• Conducting the interviews right on the spot or in the research agency’s interviewing facility located at the mall

Mall Intercept Personal Interview

• Speed of data collection– Fast

• Geographical flexibility– Confined, urban bias

• Respondent cooperation– Moderate to low– Versatility of questioning

• Extremely versatile

Mall Intercept Personal Interview

• Speed of Data Collection– Fast

• Geographical Flexibility– Confined, urban bias

• Respondent Cooperation– Moderate to low– Versatility of Questioning– Extremely versatile

Mall Intercept Personal Interview

• Questionnaire length– Moderate to long

• Item nonresponse– Medium

• Possibility of respondent misunderstanding– Lowest

Mall Intercept Personal Interview

• Degree of interviewer influence of answers– Highest

• Supervision of interviewers– Moderate to high

• Anonymity of respondent– Low

Mall Intercept Personal Interview

• Ease of call back or follow-up– Difficult

• Cost– Moderate to high

• Special features– Taste test, viewing of TV commercials

possible

Telephone Surveys• It has come of age as one of the best cost

effective alternatives on account of various developments in telephonic interviews

• Random digit dialing as a sampling procedure

-----Central location telephone interviews

-----Computer assisted telephone interviews

-----Completely automated telephone surveys

Telephone Surveys

• Speed of Data Collection– Very fast

• Geographical Flexibility– High

• Respondent Cooperation– Good

• Versatility of Questioning– Moderate

Telephone Surveys

• Questionnaire Length– Moderate

• Item Non response– Medium

• Possibility of Respondent Misunderstanding– Average

• Degree of Interviewer Influence of Answer– Moderate

Telephone Surveys

• Supervision of interviewers– High, especially with central location WATS

interviewing

• Anonymity of respondent– Moderate

• Ease of call back or follow-up– Easy

Telephone Surveys

• Cost– Low to moderate

• Special features– Fieldwork and supervision of data collection

are simplified; quite adaptable to computer technology

Central location telephone interviewing (CLTI)

• Interviewers make calls from a centrally located marketing research facility

• Wide Area Telecommunication Service (WATS) lines are used

• Facilitates unlimited long distance calls at fixed rates

• Supervisors can monitor &control the whole process

Computer assisted telephone interviewing (CATI)

• Telephonic interview responses can be directly entered into the computer

• The telephonic interviewer is seated at a computer terminal

• Closed ended questions appear on the computer screen one at a time

• Interviewer reads out the question & enters the response of the interview into the computer

• CATI technology has useful features like random selection of tel.nos, dialing them, data entry & its speedy tabulation

Completely automated telephone surveys( CATS)

• Computer uses recorded voice of a professional interviewer to ask questions

• Respondents answer by pressing number button on their telephone sets to mark their choice

• Options selected are recorded by the computer

• If respondent does not answer first couple of questions computer dials next respondent

• Produces quality data at good speed &less cost

Self Administered questionnaires• Questionnaire filled out by respondents without

intervention of interviewer

• Mostly conducted at locations with captive audiences: theatres, airports ,malls, hotels or sent through posts (mail surveys) or through emails

• Brief questionnaires are given to respondents & collected back either through drop box or return of mail

M A IL IN -P E R S O ND R O P -O F F

IN S E R TS F A X

P A P E RQ U E S TIO N N A IR E S

E -M A IL IN TE R N E TW E B S ITE

K IO S K

E L E C TR O N ICQ U E S TIO N N A IR E S

S E L F -A D M IN IS TE R E DQ U E S TIO N N A IR E S

Self-Administered Questionnaires

Kiosks• Kiosks are multimedia touch screen computers

• Have ability to display full colour screen images, play stereo sound clips & show videos

• Computers are pre-programmed to administer complex surveys

• Successfully tried at trade shows & now also at retail stores

• Does not involve interviewer & less expensive

Mail Surveys

Mail Surveys

• Speed of data collection– Researcher has no control over return of

questionnaire; slow

• Geographical flexibility– High

• Respondent cooperation– Moderate--poorly designed questionnaire will

have low response rate

Mail Surveys

• Versatility of questioning– Highly standardized format

• Questionnaire length– Varies depending on incentive

• Item non response– High

Mail Surveys

• Possibility of respondent misunderstanding– Highest--no interviewer present for clarification

• Degree of interviewer influence of answer– None--interviewer absent

• Supervision of interviewers– Not applicable

Mail Surveys

• Anonymity of respondent– High

• Ease of call back or follow-up– Easy, but takes time

• Cost– Lowest

• Write a “sales oriented” cover letter• Money helps

- As a token of appreciation- For a charity

• Stimulate respondents’ interest with interesting questions• Follow Up

- Keying questionnaires with codes• Advanced notification• Sponsorship by a well-known and prestigious institution

How to Increase Response Rates for Mail Surveys

Increasing Response Rates

• Effective cover letter

• Money helps

• Interesting questions

• Follow-ups

• Advanced notification

• Survey sponsorship

• Keying questionnaires

E-Mail Questionnaire Surveys

• Speed of data collection– Instantaneous

• Geographic flexibility– worldwide

• Cheaper distribution and processing costs

E-Mail Questionnaire Surveys

• Flexible, but– Extensive differences in the capabilities of

respondents’ computers and e-mail software limit the types of questions and the layout

• E-mails are not secure and “eavesdropping” can possibly occur

• Respondent cooperation– Varies depending if e-mail is seen as “spam”

Internet Surveys

• A self-administered questionnaire posted on a Web site.

• Respondents provide answers to questions displayed online by highlighting a phrase, clicking an icon, or keying in an answer.

Internet Surveys

• Speed of data collection– Instantaneous

• Cost effective

• Geographic flexibility– worldwide

• Visual and interactive

Internet Surveys

• Respondent cooperation– Varies depending on web site– Varies depending on type of sample– When user does not opt-in or expect a

voluntary survey cooperation is low. – Self-selection problems in web site visitation

surveys - participants tend to be more deeply involved than the average person.

Internet Surveys

• Versatility of questioning– Extremely versatile

• Questionnaire length– Individualized based on respondent answers– Longer questionnaires with panel samples

• Item nonresponse– Software can assure none

Internet Surveys

• Representative samples

• The quality of internet samples may vary substantially.

• A sample of those who visit a web page and voluntarily fill out a questionnaires can have self-selection error.

Internet Surveys

• 1) not all individuals in the general public have internet access

• 2) many respondents lack powerful computers with high-speed connections to the internet

• 3) many respondents computer skills will be relatively unsophisticated.

Internet Surveys

• Possibility for respondent misunderstanding– High

• Interviewer influence of answers– None

• Supervision of interviewersnot required

Internet Surveys

• Anonymity of Respondent– Respondent can be anonymous or known

• Ease of Callback or Follow-up– difficult unless e-mail address is known

• Special Features– allows graphics and streaming media

Welcome Screen

• Welcome Screen like a cover letter• It contains the name of the research company and

how to contact the organization if there is a problem or concern.

• "If you have any concerns or questions about this survey, or if you experience any technical difficulties, please contact (NAME OF RESEARCH ORGANIZATION).

Welcome Screen should ask for password and give instructions

• Please enter your personal password from your invitation.Then, press the "enter" key to begin the survey or simply click on the right arrow at the bottom of the page to begin the survey (after you have read the remaining instructions):

• During the survey, please do not use your browser's FORWARD and BACK buttons.

• Use the arrows on the lower right to move backward and forward through the survey.

Pretesting

• A trial run with a group of respondents to iron out fundamental problems in the instructions of survey design