Primary Market Research Techniques

The following are some general steps to follow in writing questionnaires and focus group scripts:

1. Develop an outline of topics to ask about (questionnaires) or discuss (focus groups).

Limit your list to 5 issues.

2. Begin drafting the questions.

For focus groups, write questions that will generate the maximum amount of information form the participants.

There are usually two to five key quesitons to be asked either in questionnaires or in focus groups for the in-depth stage of discussion. Write these questions first since they will require the most attention in analysis.

3. Good questionnaires or focus group questions will require lots of reflection and refinement. Evaluate your questions with this checklist:

• What type of language does the topic and target audience require? Do you want to use technical jargon or lay terms?
• Is the language informal and simple?
• Are the questions short and understandable?
• What information does the question ask for?
• How broad or narrow is the question?
• How is it related to what you need to know?
• How "answerable" is it?
• How would you feel about the question if you were asked to respond?
• Is the question too sensitive?
• Is the context of the question clear?

4. Sequence the questions in logical order.

Start off with a general topic and then move onto more specific areas. For questionnaires, it is often a good idea to group questions which have the same answer format together (e.g., 1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree). This can really reduce respondent burden.

5. Check your questions. How do they reflect what you need to know?

6. Get feedback on the questionnaire or focus group script.

7. Pilot test the questionnaire or script.

8. Revisit the questionnaire or script to reconcile pilot test feedback.