1. 12-1

2. Part Three
SOURCES AND
COLLECTION OF DATA
12-2
McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2003 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.,All Rights Reserved.

3. Chapter Twelve
INSTRUMENTS OF
PARTICIPANT
COMMUNICATION
12-3

4. Instrument Design Process
• Phase 1: Developing the instrument
design strategy
• Phase 2: Constructing and refining the
measurement questions
• Phase 3: Drafting and refining the
instrument
12-4

5. Developing the Instrument Design Strategy
• Management-Research Question
Hierarchy:
– The management problem/question
– Research question(s)
– Investigative questions
– Measurement questions
12-5

6. Strategic Concerns of Instrument Design
• What type of data is needed to answer
the management question?
• What communication approach will be
used?
• Should the questions be structured,
unstructured, or some combination?
• Should the questions be disguised or
undisguised?
12-6

7. Ways to Interact with the Participant
• Personal interview
• Telephone
• Mail
• Computer
12-7

8. Types of Measurement Questions?
• Target
• Classification
• Administrative
12-8

9. Appropriate Question Content
• Should this question be asked?
• Is the question of proper scope and
coverage?
• Can the participant adequately answer
this question, as asked?
• Will the participant willingly answer this
question, as asked?
12-9

10. How to Test a
Respondent’s Appropriateness
• Filter questions
• Screen questions
12-10

11. Question Wording Criteria
• Is the question stated in terms of a
shared vocabulary?
• Does the question contain vocabulary
with a single meaning?
• Does the question contain unsupported
assumptions?
• Is the question correctly personalized?
• Are adequate alternatives presented
within the question?
12-11

12. What Dictates
Your Response Strategy?
• Characteristics of participants
• Nature of the topic(s) being studied
• Type of data needed
• Your analysis plan
12-12

13. Types of Response Questions
• Free-response
• Dichotomous
• Multiple-choice
• Checklist
• Rating
• Ranking
12-13

14. Guidelines to Refining the Instrument
• Awaken the participant's interest
• Use buffer questions as a guide to
request sensitive information
• Use the funnel approach to move to
more specific questions
12-14

15. Improving Survey Results
• Pretesting is an established practice for
discovering errors and useful for
training the research team
12-15