Core Business Skills

8/3/2019 Core Business Skills

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Core Business Skills

Code: UGB 103


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Research & Report

Key Considerations to Design YourResearch Approach

Consider the following key questionswhen designing your research plan:


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1. For what purposes is the research being done, i.e.,what do you want to be able to decide as a result of

the research?

2. Who are the audiences for the information from theresearch, e.g., funders / bankers, uppermanagement, employees, customers, etc.

3. What kinds of information are needed to make thedecisions you need to make and/or to enlightenyour intended audiences, e.g., do you needinformation to really understand a process, the

customers who buy certain products, strengths andweaknesses of the product or service or program,benefits to customers, how the product or serviceor program failed some customers and why, etc.?


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4. From what sources should the information becollected, e.g., employees, customers, groups ofemployees or customers, certain documentation,

etc.?

5. How can that information be collected in areasonable fashion, e.g., questionnaires, interviews,examining documentation, observing staff and/or

clients in the program, conducting focus groupsamong staff and/or clients, etc?

6. When is the information needed (so, by when must itbe collected)?

7. What resources are available to collect theinformation?


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Questionnaire Design

Questionnaires are an inexpensive way to gather datafrom a potentially large number of respondents. Oftenthey are the only feasible way to reach a number ofreviewers large enough to allow statistically analysis of

the results. A well-designed questionnaire that is usedeffectively can gather information on both the overallperformance of the test system as well as information onspecific components of the system. If the questionnaireincludes demographic questions on the participants, they

can be used to correlate performance and satisfactionwith the test system among different groups of users.


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It is important to remember that a questionnaireshould be viewed as a multi-stage processbeginning with definition of the aspects to beexamined and ending with interpretation of theresults. Every step needs to be designedcarefully because the final results are only asgood as the weakest link in the questionnaireprocess. Although questionnaires may be cheap

to administer compared to other data collectionmethods, they are every bit as expensive interms of design time and interpretation.


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The steps required to design and administera questionnaire include:

Defining the Objectives of the survey

Determining the Sampling Group Writing the Questionnaire

Administering the Questionnaire

Interpretation of the Results


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What can questionnaires measure?

Questionnaires are quite flexible in whatthey can measure, however they are notequally suited to measuring all types of

data. We can classify data in two ways,Subjective vs. Objective andQuantitative vs. Qualitative.


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When a questionnaire is administered, theresearchers control over the environment will be

somewhat limited. This is why questionnairesare inexpensive to administer. This loss ofcontrol means the validity of the results are morereliant on the honesty of the respondent.Consequently, it is more difficult to claim

complete objectivity with questionnaire data thenwith results of a tightly controlled lab test. Forexample, if a group of participants are asked ona questionnaire how long it took them to learn aparticular function on a piece of software, it islikely that they will be biased towardsthemselves and answer, on average, with alower than actual time.


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Questions may be designed to gather eitherqualitative or quantitative data. By their verynature, quantitative questions are more exact

then qualitative. For example, the word "easy"and "difficult" can mean radically different thingsto different people. Any question must becarefully crafted, but in particular questions that

assess a qualitative measure must be phrasedto avoid ambiguity.


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Qualitative questions may also requiremore thought on the part of the participantand may cause them to become bored

with the questionnaire sooner. In general,we can say that questionnaires canmeasure both qualitative and quantitative

data well, but that qualitative questionsrequire more care in design,administration, and interpretation.


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When to use a questionnaire?

a. When resources and money are limited.A Questionnaire can be quite inexpensive to administer.Although preparation may be costly, any data collectionscheme will have similar preparation expenses. The

administration cost per person of a questionnaire canbe as low as postage and a few photocopies. Time isalso an important resource that questionnaires canmaximize. If a questionnaire is self-administering, suchas a e-mail questionnaire, potentially several thousand

people could respond in a few days. It would beimpossible to get a similar number of usability testscompleted in the same short time.


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b. When it is necessary to protect the privacy

of the participants. Questionnaires are easy toadminister confidentially. Often confidentiality isthe necessary to ensure participants willrespond honestly if at all. Examples of such

cases would include studies that need to askembarrassing questions about private orpersonal behavior.


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c. When corroborating other findings. Instudies that have resources to pursue other datacollection strategies, questionnaires can be auseful confirmation tools. More costly schemesmay turn up interesting trends, but occasionally

there will not be resources to run these othertests on large enough participant groups tomake the results statistically significant. A follow-up large scale questionnaire may be necessary

to corroborate these earlier results.


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I. Defining the Objectives of the Survey

A questionnaire that is written without aclear goal and purpose is inevitably goingto overlook important issues and waste

participants' time by asking uselessquestions.


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II. Writing the Questionnaire

At this point, we assume that we havealready decided what kind of data we areto measure, formulated the objectives of

the investigation, and decided on aparticipant group. Now we must composeour questions.


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If the preceding steps have been faithfullyexecuted, most of the questions will be on

obvious topics. Most questionnaires, however,also gather demographic data on theparticipants. This is used to correlate responsesets between different groups of people. It isimportant to see whether responses are

consistent across groups. For example, if one group of participants is

noticeably less satisfied with the test interface, itis likely that the interface was designed withoutfair consideration of this group's specific needs.This may signify the need for fundamentalredesign of the interface.


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In addition, certain questions simply may only be

applicable to certain kinds of users. For example, if one is asking the participants

whether they find the new tutorial helpful, we do

not want to include in our final tally theresponses of experienced users who learned thesystem with an older tutorial. There is noaccurate way to filter out these responses

without simply asking the users when theylearned the interface.


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Typically, demographic data is collected at thebeginning of the questionnaire, but such

questions could be located anywhere or evenscattered throughout the questionnaire. Oneobvious argument in favor of the beginning ofthe questionnaire is that normally background

questions are easier to answer and can ease therespondent into the questionnaire. One does notwant to put off the participant by jumping in tothe most difficult questions. We are all familiarwith such kinds of questions.


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It is important to ask only those background

questions that are necessary. Do not ask incomeof the respondent unless there is at least somerational for suspecting a variance across incomelevels. There is often only a fine line between

background and personal information. You donot want to cross over in to the personal realmunless absolutely necessary. If you need tosolicit personal information, phrase yourquestions as unobtrusively as possible to avoidruffling your participants and causing them toanswer less than truthfully.


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What kind of questions do we ask?

In general, there are two types ofquestions one will ask, open format orclosed format


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Open format questions are those that ask forunprompted opinions. In other words, there are

no predetermined set of responses, and theparticipant is free to answer however hechooses. Open format questions are good forsoliciting subjective data or when the range ofresponses is not tightly defined. An obviousadvantage is that the variety of responsesshould be wider and more truly reflect the

opinions of the respondents.


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This increases the likelihood of you receivingunexpected and insightful suggestions, for it isimpossible to predict the full range of opinion. It

is common for a questionnaire to end with andopen format question asking the respondent forher unabashed ideas for changes orimprovements.


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Example:

How do you see your future?

..


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Open format questions have several disadvantages.First, their very nature requires them to be readindividually. There is no way to automatically tabulate orperform statistical analysis on them. This is obviouslymore costly in both time and money, and may not bepractical for lower budget or time sensitive evaluations.

They are also open to the influence of the reader, for notwo people will interpret an answer in precisely the sameway. This conflict can be eliminated by using a singlereader, but a large number of responses can make thisimpossible. Finally, open format questions require more

thought and time on the part of the respondent.Whenever more is asked of the respondent, the chanceof tiring or boring the respondent increases.


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Closed format questions usually take the form ofa multiple-choice question. They are easy for therespondent to answer.

There is no clear consensus on the number of

options that should be given in an closed formatquestion. Obviously, there needs to be sufficientchoices to fully cover the range of answers butnot so many that the distinction between them

becomes blurred.


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Usually this translates into five to ten possibleanswers per questions. For questions that

measure a single variable or opinion, such asease of use or liability, over a complete range(easy to difficult, like to dislike), conventionalwisdom says that there should be an odd

number of alternatives. This allows a neutral orno opinion response. Other schools of thoughtcontend that an even number of choices is bestbecause it forces the respondent to get off thefence. This may induce the some inaccuracies

for often the respondent may actually have noopinion. However, it is equally arguable that theneutral answer is over utilized, especially bybored questionnaire takers.


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Closed format questions offer many advantages in time

and money. By restricting the answer set, it is easy tocalculate percentages and other hard statistical dataover the whole group or over any subgroup ofparticipants. Modern scanners and computers make itpossible to administer, tabulate, and perform preliminary

analysis in a matter of days. Closed format questionsalso make it easier to track opinion over time byadministering the same questionnaire to different butsimilar participant groups at regular intervals. Finallyclosed format questions allow the researcher to filter out

useless or extreme answers that might occur in an openformat question.


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Ex: A comparison of results for a closed andan open question

This next question is on the subject of work.People look for different things in a job.

Which one of the following five things do youmost prefer in a job? [closed question].

What would you most prefer in a job? [openquestion]


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Closed format

Answer %Work that pays well 13.2

Work that gives a feeling of accomplishment 31.0

Work where there is not too much supervision 11.7Work that is pleasant and people are nice 19.8

Work that is steady & little chance of laid off 20.3

96% of sample

Other/NA 4.0


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Open format

Answer %

Pay 16.7Feeling of accomplishment 14.5

Control of work 4.6

Pleasant of work 14.5

Work security 7.657.9%(sample)

Opportunity for promotion 1.0

Short hours/lots of free time 1.6Working conditions 3.1

Benefits 2.3

Satisfaction/liking a job 15.6

Other 18.3


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Rules for designing questions

1. Always bear in mind your researchquestions

2. What do you want to know?

3. How would you answer it?

Wh th ti l d f t


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Whether your questions are open or closed format,there are several points that must by considered

when writing and interpreting questionnaires:

1.Clarity: This is probably the area that causes thegreatest source of mistakes in questionnaires.

Questions must be clear, succinct, andunambiguous. The goal is to eliminate thechance that the question will mean differentthings to different people. If the designers fails to

do this, then essentially participants will beanswering different questions.


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To this end, it is best to phrase your questions

empirically if possible and to avoid the use ofnecessary adjectives. For example, it asking aquestion about frequency, rather than supplyingchoices that are open to interpretation such as:

Very Often

Often

Sometimes Rarely

Never


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It is better to quantify the choices, such as:

Every Day or More

2-6 Times a Week

About Once a Week

About Once a Month Never


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2. Avoid leading Questions: A leadingquestion is one that appear to lead therespondent in a particular direction.

questions of the kind Do you agree withthe view that ..? fall into this class of

question.


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The obvious problem with such a question is thatit is suggesting a particular reply to respondents,

although invariably they do have the ability torebut any implied answer.

However, it is the fact that they might feelpushed in a certain direction that they do notnaturally incline towards.


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Ex: Do you think that UK corporate directors

receive excessive financial compensation?

Such question is likely to make it difficult forsome people to answer in a way that indicatesthey do not believe that UK corporate directorsare overpaid for what they do.


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3. Phrasing: Most adjectives, verbs, and nouns inEnglish have either a positive or negative connotation.

Two words may have equivalent meaning, yet one maybe a compliment and the other an insult. Consider thetwo words "child-like" and "childish", which have virtuallyidentical meaning. Child-like is an affectionate term thatcan be applied to both men and women, and young andold, yet no one wishes to be thought of as childish. In theabove example of "Is this the best CAD interface youhave every used?" clearly "best" has strong overtonesthat deny the participant an objective environment toconsider the interface. The signal sent the reader is thatthe designers surely think it is the best interface, and so

should everyone else. Though this may seem like anextreme example, this kind of superlative question iscommon practice.


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4. Avoid questions that include negatives.

ex: Do you agree that the view that students should nothave to take out loans to finance higher education?

A more subtle, but no less troublesome, example can bemade with verbs that have neither strong negative or

positive overtones. Consider the following two questions:

Do you agree with the Governor's plan to oppose increaseddevelopment of wetlands?

Do you agree with the Governor's plan to support curtaileddevelopment of wetlands?


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They both ask the same thing, but will likelyproduce different data. One asks in a positiveway, and the other in a negative. It is impossible

to predict how the outcomes will vary, so onemethod to counter this is to be aware of differentways to word questions and provide a mix inyour questionnaire. If the participant pool is very

large, several versions may be prepared anddistributed to cancel out these effects.


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5. Embarrassing Questions: Embarrassingquestions dealing with personal or privatematters should be avoided. Your data is

only as good as the trust and care thatyour respondents give you. If you makethem feel uncomfortable, you will lose their

trust. Do not ask embarrassing questions.


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6. Avoid double-barrelled questions

Double-barrelled questions are ones that infact ask about two things.

Ex: How satisfied are you with pay andcondition in your job?

The problem here is obvious: the respondent may besatisfied with one but not the other.


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7. Avoid technical terms

Use simple, plain language and avoid jargon. Do

not ask a question like,

i. Do you sometimes feelalienatedfrom work?

ii. The influence of theTUCon management-worker relationship has declined in recent years.

Strongly agree---Agree---Undecided---Disagree---Strongly disagree


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You will then review the questionnaire with thetest takers and discuss all points that were in

any way confusing and work together to solvethe problems. You will then produce a newquestionnaire. It is possible that this step mayneed to be repeated more than once depending

on resources and the need for accuracy.


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Conclusions

Questionnaire design is a long process that demandscareful attention. A questionnaire is a powerfulevaluation tool and should not be taken lightly. Designbegins with an understanding of the capabilities of aquestionnaire and how they can help your research. If itis determined that a questionnaire is to be used, thegreatest care goes into the planning of the objectives.Questionnaires are like any scientific experiment. Onedoes not collect data and then see if they found

something interesting. One forms a hypothesis and anexperiment that will help prove or disprove thehypothesis.


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Questionnaires are versatile, allowing the

collection of both subjective and objective datathrough the use of open or closed formatquestions.

Modern computers have only made the task of

collecting and extracting valuable material moreefficient.

However, a questionnaire is only as good as thequestions it contains. There are many guidelines

that must be met before you questionnaire canbe considered a sound research tool.


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The majority deal with making thequestionnaire understandable and free ofbias. Mindful review and testing is

necessary to weed out minor mistakes thatcan cause great changes in meaning andinterpretation. When these guidelines are

followed, the questionnaire becomes apowerful and economic evaluation tool.


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Part B

Data presentation


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Univariate analysis

Refers to the analysis of one variable at atime.

Frequency table- provides the number ofpeople and the percentage belonging toeach of the categories for the variable in

question.


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Ex: Frequency table showing reasons for visitingthe gym

Reason n %

Relaxation 9 10

Maintain or improve fitness 31 34

Lose weight 33 37

Build strength 17 19

TOTAL 90 100


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Ex: Frequency table showing ages of gymmembers

Age n %20 and under 3 3

21 30 39 44

31 40 23 2641 50 21 24

51 and over 3 3

TOTAL 89 100


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When grouping in this way, take care toensure that the categories you create donot overlap (for example, like this: 20 30,

30 40, 40 50. etc).


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Part C

Result analysis & recommendation

Bar chart excel 1.xls

Pie chart excel 2.xls
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Core Business Skills