Closed-Ended Questions If you can answer a question with only a “yes” or “no” response, then you are answering a closed-ended type of question.
Examples of closed-ended questions are:
Are you feeling better today? May I use the bathroom? Is the prime rib a special tonight? Should I date him? Will you please do me a favor? Have you already completed your homework? Is that your final answer? Were you planning on becoming a fireman? Should I call her and sort things out? Is it wrong to want to live on my own at this age? Shall we make dinner together tonight? Could I possibly be a messier house guest? Might I be of service to you ladies this evening? Did that man walk by the house before? Can I help you with that? May I please have a bite of that pie? Would you like to go to the movies tonight? Is math your favorite subject? Does four plus four equal eight? Is that haunted house really scary? Will you be going to Grandmother’s house for Christmas? Did Dad make the cake today? Is there a Mass being held at noon?
Closed-ended questions should not always be thought of as simple questions that anyone can quickly answer merely because they require a yes or no answer. Closed-ended questions can also be very complicated. For example, “Is 1 in binary equal to 1 in counting numbers?” is a closed-ended question that not everyone would be able to quickly answer.
Examples of Open Ended Interview Questions
1. Give me a general view of your current (or most recent) responsibilities.
2. If you could have the perfect job, what would it be?
3. Think of a problem you had to deal with at your last (or present) job. Tell me exactly what happened and how you handled it.
4. Describe a situation in which you might find it justifiable to break company policy or alter standard procedure.
5. In your past job experience, tell me about a time when you stuck to company policy to solve a problem when it might have been easier or more immediately effective not to.
6. Give me an example of a time when communicating with a customer (or fellow worker) was difficult. Give me an example of how you handled it.
7. Think of a day when you had many things to do and describe how you scheduled your time.
8. Tell me about something you’ve done in your current (or most recent) job that is creative.
9. Tell me about a time when you made a quick decision that you were proud of.
10. Tell me about an important goal you have set in the past and how successful you were in accomplishing it.
11. Think of a time when you had to do a task that was particularly uninteresting. How did you deal with it?
12. What experience have you had with a miscommunication with a customer (or fellow employee). How did you solve the problem?
13. Tell me about a time when an upper-level decision or a policy change held up your work.
14. Have you ever had to make a sticky decision when no policy existed to cover it? Tell me what you did.
15. Describe a time when you communicated some unpleasant news or feelings to a supervisor. What happened?
16. What has been your experience in dealing with poor performance of subordinates? Give me an example.
17. In your current (or most recent) position, what types of decisions do you make without consulting your boss?
18. Can you give me an example of when you came up with a clever way of motivating someone?
19. Give me an example of a time when you got really motivated at work.
20. What have been major obstacles which you have had to overcome on your most recent (or current) job. How did you deal with them?
21. What types of things have made you angry? How did you react to those situations?
22. Describe a situation in your last (or current) job where you could structure your own work schedule. What did you do?
23. Describe for me a time when you made a mistake that illustrates your need for improvement in a certain
area.
24. You have heard the expression, “being able to roll with the punches.” Describe a time when you had to do that.
25. If you could be “supervisor-for-a-day” at your current (or most recent) position, what changes would you make
• Cover Page: showing ADSM logo, program details (Program title, course code, course title, and intake), assessment type, assessment title (different from the research question), student name, student id and submission date. Page number must start at the first page of your report (and not your cover page or contents).
• Please use cover page that you can access from your ADSM account made now available under course on LMS and attached in this file.
• Title: The title should indicate clearly the focus of the report. It should be brief and, if possible, generate interest in the importance of the report’s content.
• Executive Summary: This is a brief summary of the report, no longer than one page, which is designed to help the reader decide whether they wish to read the full report. Although it is the first thing to be read, it should be written last and should include:
o the purpose of the report, how the topic was investigated, an overview of the findings, the key recommendations.
• Table of Contents: This shows how the report is structured and indicates the page numbers of the main elements. You should also include a list of charts and diagrams (where appropriate) and any appendices.
• Introduction: The purpose of the introduction is to set the scene and show how the chosen topic seeks to address an issue of strategic relevance to the organisation. A brief explanation of the organisational context can highlight the key drivers that are influencing the business and demonstrate a rationale for the report. The introduction should also outline the aims and objectives of the study. The aim clarifies what the report is trying to achieve while the objectives are more specific and show how the issue will be addressed. The introduction can also outline the scope of the report including any boundaries or constraints that may apply or affect the progress of the study.
• Literature Review: The purpose of the literature review is to put the issue under investigation into perspective and demonstrate your knowledge of the key works and latest findings on the topic. Consider including recent surveys or other material to support any proposals contained with the report.
• Data Methodology: This section must explain what you did to gather the information that you are presenting. You should explain the approach used (such as questionnaires, interviews, and so on), why you took this approach.
• Findings, analysis, and discussion: Your results should be presented as clearly as possible so that they are easily understood and accessible to the reader. Graphs, charts and diagrams can be used to identify the key findings. In this section you should also analyse and interpret the results by drawing on the research you have collected and explaining its significance. You should also suggest explanations for your findings and any outline any issues that may have influenced the results.
• Conclusion: This section draws together the main issues identified in the report and should refer back to the aims and objectives – has the report achieved what it set out to do? This section should not include any new material.
• Recommendations: The recommendations should be actionable and feasible in the organisational context. You should show what needs to be done and why. It is advisable that you prioritise the recommendations that are likely to achieve the greatest effect.
• References: At the end of your report you should list of all the publications and other material that you have quoted or made reference to in the report. This enables the reader to follow up on issues of particular interest but is also essential to avoid plagiarism. (e.g. APA style)
• Appendices: These should include additional material that is related to the study but not essential to read. If used, they should be signposted in the main report and should be clearly numbered.
Open-ended and behaviour-based interview
questions: Examples
When interviewing candidates for a position, steer away as much as possible from
factual, close-ended questions that require a yes or no response. Instead, try to get the
candidate talking by using open-ended and behaviour-based questions.
Open-ended questions require the applicant to offer more detail and demonstrate their
communication skills (for example, “Tell me about a time…”).
Behaviour-based questions require the applicant to hypothesize what they would do
when presented with a realistic workplace scenario. This type of framework showcases
their judgment and decision-making skills.
The list below offers some sample open-ended and behaviour-based interview
questions.
Tell me about yourself.
How would you describe yourself?
How would your boss/co-workers and/or subordinates describe you?
What motivates you?
What do you see as your strengths?
What accomplishments are you particularly proud of?
What do you know about our company, industry and/or position?
Why are you interested in this position?
How would you define success in this role?
What things are most important to you in a job, manager and/or company?
Describe your ideal job.
Why should we hire you?
Where do you see yourself in two years?
What type of management style do you work best under?
What is your management style?
How do you motivate people?
What motivates you to do your best work?
How do you deal with conflict?
How do you deal with stress?
What type of working environment do you excel in?
Can you explain this gap in your employment history?
Can you explain why you’ve held so many positions in such a short period of time?
In your most recent performance review, what areas were highlighted as being your
strengths and weaknesses? What steps have you taken to address your weaknesses?
References are important to us. What will your manager tell us about your strengths
and weaknesses?
Why did you leave your last position? What type of reference will your previous
company provide?
What is your current salary? What are your salary expectations?
Give me an example of a difficult decision you’ve had to make in your position. What
made it difficult and what was the outcome?
Describe a specific problem you’ve encountered in your position. How did you go
about solving it?
Give me an example of when you’ve had to go above and beyond the call of duty to
get the job done.
Tell me about an occasion where you needed to work with a group of people to get
the job done.
Tell me about a time when you’ve been overloaded with work. How did you go about
prioritizing your tasks?
Give me an example of a high-pressure situation you faced in the last X months. How
did you handle it?
Describe a situation where you needed to get consensus. How did you go about
doing so?
Tell me about a time when people disagreed with your ideas. What did you do?
Have you ever had to “sell” an idea to your boss, team or co-workers? How did you
go about doing this? Did they buy in?
Give me an example of a time when your work was criticized in front of others. How
did you respond? What did you learn from this situation?
Give me an example of a situation when you’ve had to deal with a very difficult client
or boss. How did you go about dealing with the situation? Would you do anything
different next time?
Describe a complex project that you were assigned to. What approach did you take to
complete it? What was the outcome?
Give me an example of a time when you were faced with a stressful situation that
demonstrated your coping skills.
T O P I C 9
Questionnaire Design
Preview Introduction Questionnaires are certainly the best-known of the research instruments used for gathering information from people, and they can be used in conjunction with other techniques. Volumes have been written on the subject. This is because, like research itself, questionnaires are based upon the psychological principles that underlie all human behaviour. The goal is not just to understand this behaviour—that is for the interpretation stage—but to overcome the barriers that it sets up. The truths that we are seeking in answer to our questions are generally not as readily forthcoming as one might expect, because the respondent—both intentionally and unintentionally—sets up barriers to our understanding. This topic covers the reasons for the existence of this state of affairs, and offers advice on how to deal with it.
One striking aspect of questionnaire design is perhaps best mentioned at the outset. It is something that leads to frustration every time, without fail, for both amateur and professional, the only difference being that the professional knows it is coming. It is a kind of catch-22 situation, but a bit worse, because you are part of the cause of it, rather than some outside agency. It is this: The best questionnaires are the simplest questionnaires, but it can be extremely difficult to make them look simple. Think about what that means. If you are good enough and clever enough and work hard enough to design an excellent questionnaire, it will look simple—since that was your intention—and it will serve its purpose well; but your colleagues, your boss, and anybody you care to show it to as a completed job will hardly see much to appreciate. Questionnaire design is one of the few tasks where the goal is to make it look as if it was not much of a task. It is thankless work.
The good news, however, is that there is much room for creativity in questionnaire design. You will note that in some books on research there are a good number of points about this subject that are admittedly debatable, and ‘proper methods’ vary too, according to the segment of the population being surveyed.
Designing questionnaires is never easy. This topic discusses the major elements to consider in to produce a questionnaire that will elicit accurate information, yet be relatively easy to fill out.
Question types and wording The task of designing questionnaires is no easy matter and it underlines the idea that research is a process. Without an understanding of your subject, grounded in preliminary work such as the literature search, you cannot begin to ask sensible and relevant questions in a way which will be most effective. In this respect it’s worth thinking clearly about the characteristics of your audience. For instance, if they are specialists with a high level of knowledge about your
topic, or just a general sample, it will be necessary to consider this for both the type of question you choose and the wording.
The following are examples of survey questions divided into two groups: closed-end questions and open-end questions. You should become familiar with these and think about how each might be used in your project. Think about what kind of data the question is designed to deliver and what conclusions you might draw:
Closed-end questions Dichotomous A question offering two answer choices. Example: Is this the first time you have attended this museum? Yes or No
Multiple choice A question offering three or more answer choices. Example: With whom are you attending this museum? No one_ Spouse_ Relatives/Friends_ Business associates organised group_
Likert scale A statement with which the respondent shows a specific amount of agreement/disagreement. Example: Good critical reviews are an important factor for me in choosing to attend a new exhibit at the museum. 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = undecided, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree 1_ 2_ 3_ 4_ 5_
Semantic differential A scale is inscribed between two bipolar words, and the respondent selects the point that represents his or her opinion. Example: High ticket prices … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … Low ticket prices; Top speakers … .- … .- … .- … .- … – … – … – … – Poor speakers
Importance scale A scale that rates the importance of some attribute. Example: Ticket exchange privilege to me is … 1 = extremely important, 2 = very important, 3 = somewhat important, 4 = not very important, 5 = not at all important. 1_ 2_ 3_ 4_ 5_
Rating scale A scale that rates some attribute from “poor” to “excellent”. Example: The quality of our exhibit is … 1 = excellent, 2 = very good, 3 = good, 4 = fair, 5 = poor. 1_ 2_ 3_ 4_ 5_
Intention-to-buy scale A scale that describes the respondent’s intention to buy. Example: If subscriptions were offered for packages of 6 lectures, I would … 1 = definitely buy, 2 = probably buy, 3 = not sure, 4 = probably not buy, 5 = definitely not buy. 1_ 2_ 3_ 4_ 5_
(Kotler & Kotler 1998, pp. 170–1; emphasis added)
Open-end questions Completely unstructured A question that respondents can answer in an almost unlimited number of ways. Example: What is your opinion of the Melbourne Museum?
Word association Words are presented, one at a time, and respondents mention the first word that comes to mind. Example: What is the first word that comes to mind when you hear the following? Museum_____, Melbourne Museum_____, Colonial art_____
Sentence completion Incomplete sentences are presented, one at a time, and respondents complete the sentence.
Example: When I choose a lecture series to attend, the most important consideration in my decision is ________
(Kotler & Kotler 1998, pp. 170–1; emphasis added)
Here is a sample questionnaire given by Kotler and Kotler in Museum Strategy and Marketing (1998). It uses a number of different question types, but not very well.
1 What is your income?
2 Are you an occasional or a frequent museum goer?
3 Do you like this museum? Yes () No ()
4 How many advertisements have you read or heard on the radio for this museum this season?
5 What are the most salient and determinant attributes in your evaluation of new exhibits?
6 Don’t you think it is outrageous for the government to cut funding for the arts? (Kotler & Kotler 1998, p. 168)
The meaning of the individual words used in questions can be problematic. If there is misunderstanding here, then even if the questionnaire is administered face-to-face by the person who designed it, inaccuracies will still occur because that interviewer never even realises there has been a misunderstanding. This particular type of problem is considered to be fairly subtle, and is seldom even mentioned in research books. But since it is inherent in the smallest unit of a question—the word—and can thus cause numerous problems if a mistake is built upon, it is worth discussing first.
The potential misinterpretations referred to here are inherent in specific words. For example, when a question begins with the word ‘you’, for certain types of questions it is often transformed in the mind of the respondent into ‘you and your family’ or ‘you and your spouse/partner’. This happens most often when people are asked about their participation in leisure activities or television viewing, for example. This can distort results in large surveys because the respondent will sometimes answer ‘yes’ if their family participates in something, even if they themselves do not. If you have ever been interviewed by a door-to-door interviewer for one of the large market-research companies you will know how this error is avoided. The question begins with something like: ‘Do you, yourself, ever … ?’. That adding of ‘yourself’ can make quite a difference in respondent understanding.
Here are a few examples of words that are best avoided: ‘usually’, ‘generally’, ‘typically’, ‘mostly’, ‘appropriate’, ‘weekday’, ‘young people’, ‘convenient’, ‘interesting’. Even ‘similar’ is perhaps best avoided; items you think are similar might differ from items I think are similar. That is the problem, of course—everyone has a slightly different perception of such terms. Misunderstandings are best avoided by using phrases like ‘how many’, ‘how often’, or even ‘for how many hours of the day’, in to be as precise as possible.
We will consider other such problems shortly, but for now, let us return to Kotler and Kotler’s questions and examine how they could be misunderstood.
1 What is your income? People do not generally want to reveal their exact income. Broad categories should be provided so people can indicate their income range. Furthermore, a questionnaire should never open with such a personal question.
2 Are you an occasional or a frequent museum goer? How are you defining occasional versus frequent attendance? What seems frequent to one person may be considered occasional by another.
3 Do you like this museum? Yes ( ) No ( ) ‘Like’ is a relative term. Besides, will people answer this honestly? And is a yes/no answer a useful response to the question?
4 How many advertisements have you read or heard on the radio for this museum this season? Who can remember this number? And what are the boundaries for ‘this season’?
5 What are the most salient and determinant attributes in your evaluation of new exhibits? What are ‘salient’ and ‘determinant’ attributes? Don’t use big words (or museum in-house jargon). Ask clear questions if you want clear answers.
6 Don’t you think it is outrageous for the government to cut funding for the arts? This is a loaded question. Don’t ask questions with built-in biases. We often see reports in the newspaper stating surprising statistics about people’s behavioural habits, social attitudes and so on, based upon ‘statistical evidence’. The statistics seem always to favour the viewpoint of the special-interest group quoting them. For instance, the data gleaned from question 6 may result in this conclusion: ‘90 per cent of people think that it’s outrageous that the government is cutting funding to the arts’. Now, as much as we may like this result it is nevertheless unlikely to be true. When you see such reports, rather than accepting them as fact, ask rather ‘How was the original question worded, from which these statistics have come?’. It is only rarely that the question is included in the article.
As you become more sensitive to the questionnaires which confront us all in our daily lives, and the ones that relate specifically to your work, you will see that none of these questions are far-fetched. Someone thought: ‘Questionnaires always look so simple, they must be simple to design’. Questions like those above are generally produced out of a combination of ignorance and a lack of thought or ethical commitment.
It would be a good idea to look more carefully at questionnaires than you might have in the past. It is not hard to find examples. In the competitive rush to show the customer that they care, more and more businesses are taking this relatively inexpensive initiative (e.g. restaurants, shops, hotels, automobile dealers, service stations). Try to decide what the designers intended when they framed the questions. For clear, simple questionnaires, try to imagine the possible alternative ways of phrasing that the clever designer decided to avoid before settling upon the final product.
Here are a few additional points regarding the phrasing of questions. It is often helpful to ‘soften’ a question. It is remarkable how many types of questions can appear ‘threatening’ to people. ‘Threatening’ is a dramatic word, but in research parlance it has come to mean almost anything that makes people hesitant about giving out information, and includes questions about income (people are hesitant for countless reasons about telling others about their monetary affairs), expensive purchases (they do not want a stranger knowing what appliances
are in their house), social attitudes (they wouldn’t want to be ‘misunderstood to be’ an uninformed person, a philistine, a racist).
What does it mean, then, to ‘soften’ a question? Gerald Vinten gives a few particularly interesting examples in his article ‘The art of asking threatening questions’ (Vinten 1995, p. 37). I quote these examples because they are peculiarly memorable. Vinten recommends softening the question ‘Did you kill your wife?’ because it is not one that gets much honest response. A few of his recommendations should be sufficient to get the point across. One might, he says, try the casual approach: ‘Do you happen to have murdered your wife?’. Or one might consider handing the respondent a card with printed response options. ‘Please read off the number on this card which corresponds to what happened to your wife: (1) natural death; (2) I killed her; (3) other’. Then there is what he calls ‘the everybody approach’: ‘As you know, many people have been killing their wives these days. Do you happen to have killed yours?’. And the ‘other people approach’: ‘Do you know any people who have murdered their wives? How about yourself?’.
Consider the tone of your questions, and see if they might elicit a more open response by ‘softening’ their effect.
Other elements of questionnaire design A few additional points about questionnaire design might be in . We will explore: • omnibus surveys and sequencing; • positioning classification or personal data; • compliance with existing formats; • the cover letter; and • stages in preparing a questionnaire.
Omnibus surveys and sequencing If you need to ask a few questions of a great number of people throughout the State, or throughout the country, the best way is often to buy space on an ‘omnibus’ survey. Large market-research firms employ interviewers throughout the country to ‘door-knock’, generally on weekends, producing a large sample of responses. The questions pertain to an incredible assortment of subjects. They range from political and social questions, to purchase patterns for specific products, to television-viewing habits, to fast-food consumption, to whatever anyone wants to test on the public in to decide whether they ought to proceed with their proposed business plans or bring out a new product or change the format of their magazine. There is literally no end to the possibilities. Such a questionnaire can take half an hour or more to administer by the interviewer if the respondent has something to say in response to most of the questions.
Omnibus surveys are an excellent way to obtain information from large numbers of people in selected geographic areas. If you ever purchase space on such a survey, discuss the question of sequencing with the research company. You might be told it plays no part in the respondents’ perceptions of the question, and that the skills of their interviewers preclude any sort of bias showing up. Maybe so. But think of the time involved in the interview, the potential for respondent fatigue, how your questions might seem if they fall after another
subject that might show them in another light (perhaps a comical one), and how people answer questions when they are getting bored. (They don’t think about them.)
It is not easy to organise such questionnaires—it includes much ‘last minute’ work—and if every client wanted to see where their questions were located, it would be impossible to put it together at all. However, the point is certainly worth bringing up with the agency. At least then you can make an informed decision as to whether or not it is worth pursuing any further (requesting a particular position on the questionnaire, for example, and paying extra if necessary).
Positioning classification or personal data You need to put some thought into positioning the ‘classification data or personal information’, as in everything else involving design. Eliminating bias is the objective of good questionnaire design, but another, less subtle objective is to get the respondent to complete it. Without a filled-in questionnaire we will not have the luxury of even thinking about bias.
Whether a questionnaire is administered via telephone, mail or personal interview, don’t ever lose sight of the fact that each method can be terminated readily by the respondent. With this in mind, consider the question of personal data (often loosely termed ‘the demographics’). To ask personal questions right at the start can certainly be seen as confrontational by some respondents.
The thinking of most research companies whose interviewers regularly administer lengthy questionnaires is to put personal data near the end, with another group of questions coming after that. This way, if the interview is terminated before the very end, at least the demographics have been supplied, and a useable partial questionnaire has come out of the interview. (Remember that a questionnaire without this personal information is useless. With the all-important market segmentation requirements missing, what is to be done with the information?)
Should you place the personal data near the end of your questionnaire? Obviously that depends upon the length of it, and probably more important in your research, it depends to whom you are administering it. If you have made a specific appointment with someone, you probably need not worry too much about them terminating the interview. However, do not assume that for certain.
If your questionnaire is of a reasonable length, consider the advantages of simply putting the demographics at the end. Since that is the usual place, and thus where most people would expect it, they will sense that you are about to finish up—maybe even finally about to finish up—and are willing to round off the interview.
Here is an extremely useful piece of information relating to this personal data: if you are new to the position of manager and you intend designing a questionnaire, have a look at the response options in past questionnaires that the organisation has administered. Also, have a good look at any other related questionnaire data to which you might have access. The idea here is to decide whether or not those other response options were well chosen, and if so, be sure to use the same ones.
Compliance with existing formats Many new managers have been in the frustrating situation of not using existing formats, and finding themselves amidst great piles of data that cannot be cross-referenced. For instance, the category of age in a past format may have been structured: under 20, 20–30, 31–40, and so on, and a new one uses: 15–20, 21–25, 26–30, and so on. Similarly, if the income response options are different, the results will not be able to be compared. It happens all the time, but that’s no great consolation.
There are a great many ideas about how to ‘lay out’ questionnaire elements and how to phrase questions. Some of them are fairly complex, such as ‘more people agree with questions that use positive wording than disagree with questions that use negative wording’. (That one is
true, by the way.) This sort of thing just serves to remind us that we can never hope to eliminate bias completely.
Make sure, though, that you do not get so overly concerned about question content that you forget to include all the questions you need answered. A well-known tourist attraction once asked the extremely important question: ‘Whose decision was it to come here today? Yours or your spouse’s?’. Armed with the completed questionnaires, the researchers were looking forward to discovering to whom their new advertising campaign should be directed, but they discovered something else instead—that they had forgotten to include the ‘male or female’ boxes for the respondent to tick in the demographic section of these anonymous questionnaires.
As oversights go, however, it is difficult to top a German census form of some years ago, in which the interviewer was instructed to tick one of the following:
Is this dwelling occupied? YES ( ) NO ( )
And then was confronted with this:
If answer is NO, ask: ‘How long has it not been occupied?’
That is one of the very rare instances where an interviewer hopes not to get a response.
The cover letter Whether you are posting or emailing your questionnaire the cover letter is an extremely important factor. It is a good idea to think of the letter as an integral part of the questionnaire, since it is so crucial to the respondent’s decision to fill it in or not. Remember that there are basically three types of information that the cover letter ought to provide: • It should state the purpose of the survey. • It should explain why the recipient was chosen to participate in the survey. • It should explain why the recipient ought to participate in the survey (i.e. what’s in it for
them).
That last point is especially important. Too often, mail questionnaires are prefaced with little more than a statement such as ‘We would like to ask you to contribute your views’. People are seldom interested in what we would like.
The cover letter should also refer to the postage-paid return envelope, which you would have included with the questionnaire. (If it is a huge mailing, and that is absolutely beyond your budget, you will want to compose a cover letter that is nothing less than brilliant.)
There are essentially four types of approaches to use in a cover letter to entice participation. They have been summarised as follows:
1 Ego appeal: Emphasizes how crucial the person’s participation is to the study, how valuable that input will be—‘Your opinions are crucial to … ’
2 Social utility: Emphasizes how the person’s input will aid others—‘Your response will enable other consumers to … ’
3 Aiding the sponsor: Emphasizes how input will benefit the sponsoring firm—‘We need your help if we are to … ’
4 Combination approach: Combines two or more of the above appeals—‘Your knowledge as a consumer can be used to aid other consumers … ’
The most effective approach varies according to the firm sponsoring the survey. The most effective appeal for a university seems to be ‘social utility’, whereas the ‘ego’ approach seems most successful for commercial sponsors. Overall, the social utility approach seems to be the least successful.
(Childers, Pride & Ferrell 1980, pp. 365–70)
Stages in preparing a questionnaire The following is a list of the stages in preparing a questionnaire. This is generally the most efficient one. It can help keep you from spending too much time on something that would possibly have to be changed later. 1 Decide on the content of the questions. 2 Decide on the format for the responses. 3 Decide on the wording of the questions. 4 Decide on the sequence of the questions. 5 Decide on the physical characteristics of the questionnaire. 6 Pre-test, revise and then produce the final draft.
Do remember to always pre-test, or ‘pilot’, your questionnaire on a few friends or acquaintances. They must be the same general type of person as the intended respondents to the questionnaire. If you will be questioning a large number of people, then try to get a dozen or more for your pilot. Ask them if they have any recommendations or if they had any problems filling it in. If there are quite a few potential problems, a second pilot should be done after those problems have been corrected.
Review Summary The questionnaire is the most common data-gathering instrument. Its purpose is to supply you with the data you need, in as unbiased a form as possible. In not to hinder this purpose, it is extremely important that the questions be clearly understood, and that the questionnaire itself does not seem daunting in any way, whether it is administered by telephone, mail or personal interview. When sent through the mail, it must be accompanied by a cover letter, which should encourage its return. The topic concluded with the recommended steps to take in designing a questionnaire.
References Childers, T., Pride, W. M. & Ferrell, O. C. 1980, ‘A reassessment of the effects of appeals as
responses to mail surveys’, Journal of Marketing Research, Aug., pp. 365–70. Kotler, N. & Kotler, P. 1998, Museum Strategy and Marketing: Designing Missions, Building
Audiences, Generating Revenue and Resources, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco. Vinten, G. 1995, ‘The art of asking threatening questions’, Management Decision, MCB
University Press, vol. 33, no. 7, p. 37.
Introduction to Research and Analytics in Business Dr. Muhammad Usman
Remedial 8014 | SLIDE NUMBER 2 ADSM-Quality-TMP-QBEPPT-011-18.06.20.RA
Your Instructor
Qualifications Brief: 1. PhD in Business Administration (Specialization in
Management)- USA 2. MS Computing (Software Engineering) 3. BS Computer Science (SE and PM) 4. Certified Online Educator- HBMZU UAE 5. Certified Higher Education Teacher- Harvard USA 6. Certified ISO 9001:2015- IRCA UK 7. Certified ISO 45001:2018- IRCA UK 8. EFQM Foundation 9. Certified Six Sigma Green Belt
10. Certified Six Sigma Black Belt
11. Certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt
12. Certified Six Sigma Master Implementer
13. Certified Risk Management Professional
14. Certified Supply Chain Management Professional
15. Certified Quality Auditor
16. Certified Reliability Engineer
17. Certified Manager of Quality
18. Certified Project Management Professional
19. Certified Quality Professional
20. Certified Quality Engineer
21. Certified Master Trainer the Trainer
Research: More than 51 Research Articles published in International Peer Reviewed Journals and Conferences. Some recent are: • SafeCity: Toward Safe and Secured Data Management Design for IoT-enabled Smart City Planning • Handwriting Recognition using Artificial Intelligence Neural Network and Image Processing • Virtualizing document algorithms using predictive semantic data • Secure and Resilient Demand Side Management Engine using Machine Learning for IoT-enabled Smart
Grid • Improving registration process and service quality in dental care department in a UAE hospital using
lean six sigma methodology • Quality Improvement of Audit processes duration by implementation of Lean Six Sigma in UAE Aviation
Industry
Brief Work Experience: 13+ years of experience in industry and academia. He has been working as a standards consultant and trainer for industries representing six sigma, quality, health and safety, environmental systems, project management, and information security standards. His work has encompassed sectors in aviation, manufacturing, food, hospitality, education, finance, research, software, and transportation. He has diverse and significant experience working with accreditation agencies notably NQF, ENQF, CAA, CEA, ABET, ACBSP, AACSB, WASC, and NCEAC both institute and program level. He has diverse experience in development of policies and procedures for academia and business sector. He is serving as an educational consultant and advisor for various educational institutes. Dr. Tariq has operational experience in incubators, research labs, government research projects, private-sector startups, program creation and management at various industrial and academic levels. He is working with several international journals/publishers as Editor/Reviewer. He has supervised more than 3000+ Bachelors, Masters, and PhD Thesis/Capstone Projects.
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Your Turn!
About Yourself? Your Aim? Objective? Goal?
Application of Knowledge
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Course Description
The purpose of this course is to improve students research and analytical skills. The course will provide students with the knowledge and skills to apply basic quantitative and qualitative modelling techniques to analyze and develop solutions to contemporaneous business challenges. What you learn in this course will give you a strong foundation in all the areas that support analytics and will help you to better position yourself for success. At the beginning of the course, students will learn the foundation of research and business analytic tools. The students will apply them to analyze real-world issues. The course will conclude with the challenges and opportunities of the analytics in business environment. You will have opportunity to explore the future courses for a business degree specialization.
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Course Learning Outcomes
1.Develop research and analytics skills to overcome challenges faced by public and private organizations in business analytics domain
2.Critically analyze collected data for preparation and visualization for a business analytics problem
3.Apply quantitative and qualitative modelling techniques to interpret data in form of a business analytics report
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Textbook
1.Saunders, M., Lewis, P., & Thornhill, A. (2020). Research methods for business
students (8th ed.). England. Pearson Education Limited
2.James R. Evans. (2020). Business Analytics (3rd ed.). England. Pearson Education
Limited
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Course Assessment
Assessment Task 1 Individual Assessment (Out of Class)
CLOs 1, 2, 3
Weight 100%
Submission Due date 24.09.2020 Through LMS Turnitin Submission
(11:59PM)
Description of Task The objective of this assignment is to develop a detailed
report on analyzing a business issue, researching, modeling
using learned research methodologies, and performing
business analytics. The length of this in-depth analytical work
is minimum 2,000 words.
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Grading Scale
Percentage Letter
Code
Points
94 – 100 A 4.00
87 – 93 A – 3.67
80 – 86 B + 3.33
75 – 79 B 3.00
70 – 74 B – 2.67
65 – 69 C + 2.33
60 – 64 C 2.00
55 – 59 C – 1.67
< 55 F 0.00
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Attendance
ADSM students are required to attend and participate fully in all classes, workshops, and other sessions. Should students miss a class or a session, they MUST submit a legitimate reason in writing to the Instructor before the course delivery. If a student misses a class due to an unforeseen reason, the concerned student MUST submit the legitimate reason in writing within three days of the course dates. The Instructor may forward the student’s request to the Program Director for approval.
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Research
RESEARCH IS… … a process of enquiry and investigation; it is systematic, methodical and ethical. Research helps to solve practical problems and increase knowledge. Research in common parlance refers to a search for knowledge. Once can also define research as a scientific and systematic search for pertinent information on a specific topic. In fact, research is an art of scientific investigation.
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The Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English lays down the meaning of research as: “A careful investigation or inquiry specially through search for new facts in any branch of knowledge.”
Redman and Mory define research as a:
“systematized effort to gain new knowledge.”
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Key Point
Research gives us information about:
• Thoughts and opinions • Attitudes • Habits • Culture • Norms • Scientific facts
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Your Turn!
What is Research ? First Word in Your Mind
Application of Knowledge
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Purpose Of Research
THE PURPOSE OF RESEARCH IS TO… • Review or synthesize existing knowledge • Investigate existing situations or problems • Provide solutions to problems • Explore and analyse more general issues • Construct or create new procedures or systems • Explain new phenomenon • Generate new knowledge …or a combination of any of the above!
(Collis & Hussey, 2003)
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Objective of Research.
➢To Explore.
➢To Describe.
➢To Diagnose.
➢To Establish Causal Relationship.
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Attributes of a Good Research
• Inquisitiveness.
• Innate Creativeness.
• Unbiaseness.
• Perseverance.
• Analytical Mind.
• Technology Savvy.
• Communicable.
• Expert in His Field.
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More than a set of skills, Research is a way of thinking: examining critically the various aspects of your day-to-day professional work; understanding and formulating guiding principles that govern a particular procedure; and developing and testing new theories that contribute to the advancement of your practice and profession.
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Research is NOT
• Just collecting facts or information with no clear purpose; • Reassembling and re ing facts or information • As a term to get your product or idea noticed and respected.
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Research IS
• Data are collected systematically. • Data are interpreted systematically. • There is a clear purpose: to find things out.
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Key Point
The main characteristic of this method is that the researcher has no control over the variables; he can only report what has happened or what is happening. Most ex post facto research projects are used for descriptive studies in which the researcher seeks to measure such items as for example, frequency of shopping, preferences of people, or similar data.
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Types of Research
Pure and Basic Research
Applied Research
Qualitative Research
Quantitative Research
Empirical Research
Descriptive Research
Analytical Research
Conceptual Research
Historical Research
Exploratory Research
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Types of Research
• Research which is undertaken for enhancing the
knowledge is known as basic or pure research. • It is basically undertaken with the intention of
designing different tools for solving various problem. • It is concerned with a single situation and does not
apply to wider area. • It is intellectual exploration and results into
development of theories and generalizations. • Pure research is largely limited to the academic world. • The funds provided by the educational institutions and
government enable researchers to pursue pure research. – Consumer behavior – Human behavior – Natural phenomenon – Pure mathematics
• Basic research, also called pure research or fundamental research.
Pure and Basic Research
Applied Research
Qualitative Research
Quantitative Research
Empirical Research
Descriptive Research
Analytical Research
Conceptual Research
Historical Research
Exploratory Research
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Applied Research
• Also known as practical research and mainly termed as Need based research which has high practical relevance.
• The main aim of applied research is basically finding a solution for an immediate problem which is faced by a society or an industrial or business organization.
• Time framed and budgeted research, marketing research and communication research are example of Applied research. – Problem Solving Research-Specific Problem.-
individual company for the problem faced by it – Problem oriented Research-Applied nature of
problem – WTO does problem oriented research for developing countries,
Pure and Basic Research
Applied Research
Qualitative Research
Quantitative Research
Empirical Research
Descriptive Research
Analytical Research
Conceptual Research
Historical Research
Exploratory Research
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Qualitative Research.
• Qualitative in nature, generally undertaken to study the human behavior.
• Motivation Research – Word association test – Sentence Completion test – Story completion test – Similar other projective techniques
• This type of research recommends the guidance of experienced psychologists as it is difficult to study the complexities of human behavior with the single notion.
Pure and Basic Research
Applied Research
Qualitative Research
Quantitative Research
Empirical Research
Descriptive Research
Analytical Research
Conceptual Research
Historical Research
Exploratory Research
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Quantitative Research.
• Quantitative research is based on the measurement of a phenomenon in quantity terms. The results of such research is subjected to intensive, quantitative and statistical analysis.
• Quantitative research often looks towards quantitative data to support their theories and quantitative research often looks for support in existing theories. – Demographic profile of a given area – No. of automated vehicle used in particular
area
Pure and Basic Research
Applied Research
Qualitative Research
Quantitative Research
Empirical Research
Descriptive Research
Analytical Research
Conceptual Research
– Trends in terms of no’s Historical Research
Exploratory Research
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Empirical Research.
• This is data based research in which primary(first hand) data is collected and the data is analysed and subjected to hypothesis testing.
• This is often referred to as experimental research.
• This research relies on experience or observation alone, often without due regard for system and theory.
• Data based research. – We may study the impact of a depreciating
Pure and Basic Research
Applied Research
Qualitative Research
Quantitative Research
Empirical Research
Descriptive Research
Analytical Research
Conceptual Research
Historical Research dollar on Indian Export .
Exploratory Research
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Descriptive Research.
• Descriptive research includes surveys and fact-finding enquiries of different kinds.
• The major purpose of descriptive research is description of the state of affairs as it exists at present.
• It includes Survey method. • The main characteristics of this Method is
that the researcher has no control over the variables. He can only report what has happened or what is happening. – Frequency of shopping. – Preferences of people.
Pure and Basic Research
Applied Research
Qualitative Research
Quantitative Research
Empirical Research
Descriptive Research
Analytical Research
Conceptual Research
Historical Research
Exploratory Research
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Analytical Research
• In analytical research the researcher use facts or information already available, and analyze these to make a critical evaluation of the material.
– How International trade influences the balance of payment of any country.
– How and why this movement takes place is an example of analytical research.
Pure and Basic Research
Applied Research
Qualitative Research
Quantitative Research
Empirical Research
Descriptive Research
Analytical Research
Conceptual Research
Historical Research
Exploratory Research
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Conceptual Research
• Conceptual research is that related to some abstract idea(s) or theory.
• It is generally used by philosophers and thinkers to develop new concepts or to reinterpret existing ones.
• The main aim of this type of research is to study the problems and gaps in the existing concepts or basic assumptions and to correct and remove the complexity of these concepts.
• This type of research is time consuming and is to be undertaken by experienced researchers or experts in their own areas.
Pure and Basic Research
Applied Research
Qualitative Research
Quantitative Research
Empirical Research
Descriptive Research
Analytical Research
Conceptual Research
Historical Research
Exploratory Research
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Historical Research
• Historical research is the process of systematically examining past events to give an account of what has happened in the past.
• It is not a mere accumulation of facts and dates or even a description of past events.
• It is flowing, dynamic account of past events which involves and interpretation of these events in an attempt to recapture the nuances, personalities, and ideas that influence these events.
• Mystery over Mr. Subhash Chandra Bose death
Pure and Basic Research
Applied Research
Qualitative Research
Quantitative Research
Empirical Research
Descriptive Research
Analytical Research
Conceptual Research
Historical Research
Exploratory Research
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Exploratory Research
• As the term suggests, exploratory research is often conducted because a problem has not been clearly defined as yet, or its real scope is yet unclear.
• It allows the researcher to familiarize him/herself with the problem or concept to be studied, and perhaps generate hypothesis (definition of hypothesis) to be tested.
• Exploratory research helps determine the best research design, data collection method and selection of subjects, and sometimes it even concludes that the problem does not exist!
Pure and Basic Research
Applied Research
Qualitative Research
Quantitative Research
Empirical Research
Descriptive Research
Analytical Research
Conceptual Research
Historical Research
Exploratory Research
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Types of Business Problems Encountered by the Researcher
• The lack of a scientific training in the methodology • Triple helix is not followed • Most of the business units in our country do not have the
confidence on research • Research studies are overlapping one another • There does not exist a code of conduct for researchers • The difficulty of adequate and timely secretarial
assistance, including computerial assistance • Library management and functioning is not satisfactory • There is also the difficulty of timely availability of
published data. • The problem of Conceptualization.
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Key Point
• The expenditure on research and development (R&D) OF UAE is 1.3 % of GDP in comparison to
• 0.99% percent in Russia,
• 1.3% in Brazil
• 2.837% in USA
• 2.1% in China.
• Japan spends about 3.42 percent of its GDP on R&D.
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Responsibilties to the Researchers.
I. Clarifying Responsibilities.
II. Budgeting For Safety.
III. Proper Research Design.
IV. Prior Risk Assessment.
V. Preparation For Fieldwork.
VI. Precautions in Interview.
VII. Maintaining Contact.
VIII.Strategies For Handling Risk Situations.
IX. Safety Of Respondents.
X. Maintaining Confidentiality.
XI. Debriefing And Support After The Event.
XII. Making Guidelines Stick.
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Your Turn!
Which type of Research you have used before ?
Application of Knowledge
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Importance of Knowing How Research is Done
The study of research methodology gives the students necessary training in : ❖gathering material and arranging or card-indexing them. ❖ Participation in the field work when required. ❖ Training in techniques for the collection of data appropriate to particular problem ❖ In the use of statistics, questionnaires and controlled, experimentation. ❖ Recording evidence, sorting it out and interpreting. ❖In fact, importance of knowing the methodology of research or how research is done stems from the following considerations:
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Criteria of Good Research
Whatever may be the types of research works and studies, one thing that is important is that they all meet on the common ground of scientific method employed by them. One expects scientific research to satisfy the following criteria: 1. The purpose of the research should be clearly defined and common concepts be used. 2. The research procedure used should be described in sufficient detail to permit another researcher to repeat the research for further advancement, keeping the continuity of what has already been attained. 3. The procedural design of the research should be carefully planned to yield results that are as objective as possible. 4. The researcher should report with complete frankness, flaws in procedural design and estimate their effects upon the findings. 5. The analysis of data should be sufficiently adequate to reveal its significance and the methods of analysis used should be appropriate. The validity and reliability of the data should be checked carefully. 6. Conclusions should be confined to those justified by the data of the research and limited to those for which the data provide an adequate basis. 7. Greater confidence in research is warranted if the researcher is experienced, has a good reputation in research and is a person of integrity. In other words, we can state the qualities of a good research.
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What is Business Analytics
Part of routine daily, monthly, and quarterly processes — not a sporadic or exception based exercise
Peel the onion answers to some questions generate more question – dive deeper and deeper into Data
Explore the unknown, search for new patterns and new findings and new metrics
Investigate exceptions and anomalies, research hypothesis
Gain broader and deeper insight and understanding into past performance
Stay focused on goal to improve business planning and overall business performance
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Analytics Tag Cloud , At one Glance
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What Business Analytics Answers .. ?
After making the changes, are the desired outcomes as expected?
What factors can influence a better outcome for business?
Do we see a trend or pattern emerging?
What is happening now?
When and where has it happened?
What are the factors that led it to happen?
What has happened?
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Why we need Business Analytics
1.Consistent Data
2. Extraction is planned, organized, structured and
primarily automated
3.Drill down to pinpoint problems/opportunities
4.Efficiently arrive at sound business decisions based on
facts validated through analysis
Missing Data
Inconsistent Extraction processes with require incremental changes
Filtering of data done manually at many levels
Data integration is time consuming and leaves limited time for analysis
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Different Types of Analytics
Data analytics
• A process of inspecting • Cleaning, transforming • Modelling data • Discovering useful information • Suggesting conclusions, and • Supporting decision making
Predictive analytics • Variety of techniques • Current and Historical facts to make
predictions about future • Actuarial science, marketing, financial
services, insurance, telecommunications, retail, travel, healthcare, pharmaceuticals
Business Analytics
Business analytics (BA) refers to the skills, technologies, applications and practices for continuous iterative exploration and investigation of past business performance to gain insight and drive business planning.
Business analytics focuses on developing new insights and understanding of business performance based on data and statistical methods.
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Identify your Analytics Focus Area
• Focus areasIndustry
• Integrated enterprise view of risk and finance and a single view of the customerBanking
• Performance optimization, open government, fraud, and risk managementFederal
• Customer transformation, sales force effectiveness, distribution strategy, underwriting, and excellenceInsurance
• Physician targeting, managed markets, safety analytics, and generic drug competitionLife Sciences
• Healthcare reform, fraud, quality of care improvement, and complianceHealthcare
• Performance optimization, cost reduction, fraud management, and workforce planningState Government
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Target Application for Analytics
Fraud Mitigation Employee Satisfaction
Claim Analytics Call Center Optimization
Innovation e-Discovery
Clinical Analysis Quality & Safety
Customer Acquisition & Retention M&A Due Diligence
Reputation Management Subrogation & Recovery
Anti-money Laundering Regulatory Compliance
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Where we spend our Time
Retrieving & Manipulating Data
Analyzing information & Decision Making
We spend valuable time and money every day in ensuring that appropriate business decisions are based upon solid, accurate data and information. Analysts typically spend 80% of their time retrieving and manipulating data and only 20% of their time using and analyzing the information for decision making.
Need To Increase
Need To Reduce
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Role of Analytics in business
Maximize its revenue
Minimize its operating expense
Maximize return on long term assets
Manage its risk better
The core principle of business remains the same irrespective of the industry. Every business works on the following principles and Business Analytics helps to achieve them:
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Performance Visibility in Analytics
• Revenue Growth
• Operating Margin (%)
• Operating Margin (%)
• Risk Exposure Index
Financial Performance
Level
• Revenue Dollar
• Overhead Cost Index
• Staff Productivity Index
• Operational
Operational Drivers Level
• Pricing
• Inventory Management
• Investment
• Risk Assessment
Operational Factors Level
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Business Goal with value of Business Analytics
Maximize Revenue | Reduce Operating |Maximize Return on Long Term Assets | Manage Risk
Revenue Growth: • Income Statement • Sales Plan Variance
Operating Margin • Income Statement • Operational Plan
Variance
Assessment Efficiency • Income Statement • Balance Sheet • Cash Flow • Treasury
Risk Exposure Index: • Risk Management • Compliance
Management
Financial Analytics
Revenue Drivers • Market
Opportunity Value • Customer
Acquisition • Customer
Retention • Revenue Value ($)
Expense Drivers
•
• Supply Chain Cost Index
• Operation Cost Index Overhead Cost Index
Long Term Assets Drivers • Strategic
Investment ROI • Staff
Productivity Index
• IT ROA Expense
Risk Drivers • Strategic • Operational • Compliance
Operational Drivers Analytics
Retention
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Business Goal with value of Business Analytics
Revenue Factors • Market Opportunities • Competitive Positioning • Sales Tactics • Sales Results • Product and Portfolio
Management • Pricing • On Time Delivery • Service Benchmarks • Customer Product
Profitability • Sales Pipeline • Market Feedback • Customer Feedback • Demand Generation • Product Life Cycle
Management • Sales Pipeline • Service Value
Expenses Factors • Purchasing /
Procurement • Distribution and
Logistics • Inventory
Management • On Time Delivery • Sales Plan Variance • Operational Plan
Variance • Production
and Capacity • Cost and Quality
Management • Product
Development • Organization and
Staffing • Cost and Quality
Management • Operational Plan
Long Term Assets Factors • Capex and Strategic
Investment • Balance Sheet • Market Opportunities • Competitive
Positioning • Product Life Cycle
Management • Organization and
Staffing • Sales Plan Variance • Business Value Road
Map • Compensation • Operational Plan
Variance • Training and
Development
Risk Factors • Internal
Environment • Objective Setting • Event Identification • Risk Assessment • Risk Response • Control Activities • Information and
Communication • Monitoring
Operational Drivers Analytics
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Analytics Delivery Medium
3 4Mobile File System
The output of a report could be saved as Excel, PDF, CSV, or Text Format in a file system, which is shared by group of users.
1 Integrated Corporate Portal / Intranet
• A web portal • A common corporate • Like the SharePoint • Application specific – SAP
2 Email
• Reports, dashboards, score cards Have limited size
• Less file size • Can be available in a portal
• Mobile devices – iPad, iPhone • Can access these reports • Interactive • Have less data volume because
of Limitations in the hardware.
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Analytics Delivery Medium
5 6
7 8
Internet Dedicated Device
• Special Device • Big Screen • Hardware Improvement • Real time Analysis
One Demand Cloud
• Cloud ready analysis • Easy to Subscribe • Complexity In Manage • High in Demand
Private Solution System
• Security Measure • Real time analysis • Output is precious • Research and development
• Access Analytics via internet • Access Layer • On Demand changes • Easiness in Usage
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Data Analytics Capability Value
• Email Text Analytics Sentiment Analytics Customer experience management
• Call logs • Web logs • System logs
Sentiment Analytics Customer Interaction Analytics
Customer experience management Effective operations management
• Social media feeds
• Blog feeds
Sentiment Analytics Marketing Analytics Text Analytics
Monitor the marketing, brand and service effectiveness
• Device data • Sensor data
Usage Analytics Propensity Analytics
Better consumer tracking and offer management
• CRM Marketing Sales Force Customer Service Pricing Churn
Better consumer tracking and offer management
• Human Resources
Workforce Analytics Effective management of your human talent.
• Finance Regulatory reporting Asset Valuation Revenue recognition Risk Analytics Asset analytics
Manage assets, revenues, risks and liabilities for a stable financial performance.
• Supply Chain Inventory analytics Planning & Forecasting Sourcing & Procurement Logistics & Distribution Effect channel management and delivery of product
distribution to end consumer.
• Product Product Margin Product distribution
Effective productive management for better profitability and revenue
Data V/S Value in Business Analytics
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Business Intelligence V/S Analytics
Business Intelligence
• Oriented to standard and consistent metrics and analysis
•Focused on dashboards and predefined reports
•Primarily answers predefined Questions
•Provides end users indirect raw data access through cubes, reports, and summarized data
Business Analytics
• Oriented towards ad-hoc analysis of past performance
•Focused on interactive and investigative analysis by User
• Primarily Used to derive new insights and Understanding
• Explore the unknown and discover new patterns
• Relies on low-level data to provide • Exception based reporting
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Business Analytics, Intelligence & Analysis – Together
Business Analysis Its is Set of tasks and techniques used to work as a liaison among stakeholders in to understand the structure, policies, and operations of an organization, and to recommend solutions that enable the
Business Intelligence (BI) Querying, reporting, OLAPs, alerts Can answer questions such as what happened, how many, how often, where the problem is, and what actions are needed
Business Analytics It is Continuous iterative exploration of past business performance to gain insight and drive business planning BI + additional level of functionality (forecasting, regression, and modeling) Can answer questions like why is this happening, what if these trends continue, what will happen next (predict), what is the best that can happen.
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Top Initiatives Today: Enterprise
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Where We need to Improved Technology Support
Need Improvement
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Top Initiatives Today: Finance
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Investment in Business Analytics
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Data Science, Discovery & Analytics
Data Analytics
Data discovery represents a significant change to the way organizations design and build analytic solutions. This can best be explained using Figure 4, which illustrates the data flow in a data discovery system.
Remedial 8014 | SLIDE NUMBER 60 ADSM-Quality-TMP-QBEPPT-011-18.06.20.RA
Benefits of Data Science, Discovery & Analytics
• Reduced costs – stop fraud, reduce risk, identify waste
• Increased revenues – improve customer service and satisfaction
increase customer retention and income
• Improved efficiency – make better business decisions, react faster to business
needs, identify problems before they occur
Business
Analytics
• Improved access to a richer set of information
• Increased insight and knowledge about the
business
• Faster knowledge creation at a lower cost
BIG
Data
• Enhanced analytic processes
• Optimized business processes and new business
opportunities
• Flexibility
• Faster time to value
Data
Discovery
Remedial 8014 | SLIDE NUMBER 61 ADSM-Quality-TMP-QBEPPT-011-18.06.20.RA
Various Data Sources
Windows Azure Marketplace
Windows Active Directory
SQL Azure Azure HDInsight
Slide | 61
Remedial 8014 | SLIDE NUMBER 62 ADSM-Quality-TMP-QBEPPT-011-18.06.20.RA
A Framework Approach of Analytics
Remedial 8014 | SLIDE NUMBER 63 ADSM-Quality-TMP-QBEPPT-011-18.06.20.RA
Architecture for different of Business Analytics
Text Analytics • Social Analytics • Sentiment Analysis • Brand Identity • Product & Brand Affinity • Reputation Driven Online-
Economy
Segmentation Analytics
• Customer Segmentation in real- time
• Churn Analysis, Attrition • Funnel Analysis • Behavioral Segmentations
Mobile Analytics • Digital Delivery Channels and
Services • Property Effectiveness • Application Analytics • Ad Analytics • Geo-Spatial Analytics
Remedial 8014 | SLIDE NUMBER 64 ADSM-Quality-TMP-QBEPPT-011-18.06.20.RA
Real life industry Analytics needs
Retail –
• Customer Intelligence
• Product Pricing & Store Optimization
• Right budgeting
Finance –
• Right channel adoption
• Intelligent customer service
• Reduce financial risk
Healthcare –
• Right care at the right time in the right setting
• Disease management & Case management
• Removal of behavioral barrier of doctors, patients
Cross Industry –
• Cost reduction & safe revenue
• Regulatory Compliance
• Performance Management
• Risk & Fraud Management
Remedial 8014 | SLIDE NUMBER 65 ADSM-Quality-TMP-QBEPPT-011-18.06.20.RA
Visualization Tips for Analytics
Remedial 8014 | SLIDE NUMBER 66 ADSM-Quality-TMP-QBEPPT-011-18.06.20.RA
Visualization Tag Cloud , At one Glance
Slide | 66
Remedial 8014 | SLIDE NUMBER 67 ADSM-Quality-TMP-QBEPPT-011-18.06.20.RA
Visualization Tag Cloud , At one Glance
Slide | 67
Remedial 8014 | SLIDE NUMBER 68 ADSM-Quality-TMP-QBEPPT-011-18.06.20.RA
Analytics Maturity Model with BI
Slide | 68
Remedial 8014 | SLIDE NUMBER 69 ADSM-Quality-TMP-QBEPPT-011-18.06.20.RA
Thank you
1
REM 8014 CONTROLLED
REM 8014 – Research and Analytics in Business
COURSE INFORMATION
Title: Research and Analytics in Business Credits: 1
Code: REM 8014 Prerequisite(s): None
Days and time: Sunday 6th, 13th & 20th September
Location: Online (MS Teams)
FACULTY INFORMATION
Name: Dr. Muhammad Usman Tariq
Email: [email protected] Phone: MS Teams
Office hours:
Sunday to Thursday
Online through MS Teams
Only by appointment
Office: –
1. COURSE DETAILS 1.1 Course Description
The purpose of this course is to improve students research and analytical skills. The course will
provide students with the knowledge and skills to apply basic quantitative and qualitative
modelling techniques to analyze and develop solutions to contemporaneous business challenges. What you learn in this course will give you a strong foundation in all the areas that support
analytics and will help you to better position yourself for success. At the beginning of the course, students will learn the foundation of research and business analytic tools. The students will apply
them to analyze real-world issues. The course will conclude with the challenges and opportunities of the analytics in business environment. You will have opportunity to explore the
future courses for a business degree specialization.
1.2 Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs)
1. Develop research and analytics skills to overcome challenges faced by public and private organizations in business analytics domain
2. Critically analyze collected data for preparation and visualization for a business analytics problem
2
REM 8014 CONTROLLED
3. Apply quantitative and qualitative modelling techniques to interpret data in form of a business analytics report
2. TEXT/REFERENCE BOOK/COURSE MATERIAL
2.1 Text Book
Saunders, M., Lewis, P., & Thornhill, A. (2020). Research methods for business students (8th
ed.). England. Pearson Education Limited
James R. Evans. (2020). Business Analytics (3rd ed.). England. Pearson Education Limited
2.2 Classroom Readings
Delen, D., & Zolbanin, H. M. (2018). The analytics paradigm in business research. Journal of
Business Research, 90, 186-195.
Delen, D., & Ram, S. (2018). Research challenges and opportunities in business
analytics. Journal of Business Analytics, 1(1), 2-12.
Grover, V., Chiang, R. H., Liang, T. P., & Zhang, D. (2018). Creating strategic business value
from big data analytics: A research framework. Journal of Management Information
Systems, 35(2), 388-423.
Krishnamoorthi, S., & Mathew, S. K. (2018). Business analytics and business value: A
comparative case study. Information & Management, 55(5), 643-666.
Hindle, G., Kunc, M., Mortensen, M., Oztekin, A., & Vidgen, R. (2020). Business analytics:
defining the field and identifying a research agenda.
3. TEACHING PEDAGOGY
For students to be successful in this course, they should come to class fully prepared to
participate in the class. The course is delivered on the remedial level and will be taught in a number of lectures and discussions which will require that students are fully engaged in the
directed readings in to achieve a successful student learning experience.
The intent of the course is to develop a clearer understanding of what management is and how
it is manifested in organizations by examining the general theoretical frameworks. THE
pedagogical approach will include a blend of lecture, asking a number of questions about concepts and theories that are mentioned in the lectures and imparting technique that involves
analytical thinking.
A summative assessment will afford students the opportunity to conduct guided research on a
related topic in more depth, and will be used to assess students’ conceptual clarity and analytical
ability, as well as the student’s rational reasoning, knowledge and analytical skill including the clarity of concepts of the course learning outcomes.
4. CLASS PREPARATION, PARTICIPATION, AND ATTENDANCE
Preparation for and participation in class are vital parts of the development of your abilities to
manage day-to-day situations; to identify, analyze and solve problems; to communicate ideas; to use basic concepts and tools; and to develop an overall managerial point of view. We expect
you to develop your knowledge and skills to the point where you can participate freely,
confidently and positively in class discussions about the form, use, and applicability of all taught topics.
3
REM 8014 CONTROLLED
Your instructor expects you to come prepared at all times and to participate with meaningful contributions on a voluntary basis. Your participation in class will provide the basis for the
judgment of your instructor of your normal level of day-to-day preparation. If there is any reason why you feel you cannot make contributions during class discussions, it is your responsibility to bring this to the attention of your instructor and get assistance.
We will judge you to have attained an acceptable level of development if you make meaningful contributions to many classes. We define meaningful contributions as comments, questions, or
analyzes intended to advance the general class understanding of the concept, its major problems
and key factors to consider, and appropriate decisions or plans of actions. Content, that is, what you say, is as important as how you say it.
5. COURSE ASSESSMENTS AND EVALUATION
The following are the assessment instruments with their corresponding weights:
Assessment Tasks Weight CLOs
Individual Assessment (Out of Class) 100% 1,2,3
Total 100%
5.1 Assessment Tasks
Assessment Task 1 Individual Assessment (Out of Class)
CLOs 1, 2, 3
Weight 100%
Submission Due date 24.09.2020 Through LMS Turnitin Submission
(11:59PM)
Description of Task The objective of this assignment is to develop a detailed
report on analyzing a business issue, researching, modeling
using learned research methodologies, and performing
business analytics. The length of this in-depth analytical work
is minimum 2,000 words.
6. SUBMISSION OF ASSESSMENTS
Out of class assessments must be submitted through the ADSM LMS portal (specifically Turnitin
through Moodle). Work must not be emailed to the instructor.
Late Submission of Assessment: Time Periods After Due Date
Period Submitted on time Submitted up to
24 hours late
Submitted up to
48 hours late
Submitted between 48 &
168 hours (7 days) late
1 week late, LMS closed
for class
Penalty None Reduction of 15% Reduction of 25% Reduction of 35% Reduction of
100%
*The LMS portal will be closed for submissions one week after the due date/s.
4
REM 8014 CONTROLLED
7. GRADING SCALE
Percentage Letter
Code
Points
94 – 100 A 4.00
87 – 93 A – 3.67
80 – 86 B + 3.33
75 – 79 B 3.00
70 – 74 B – 2.67
65 – 69 C + 2.33
60 – 64 C 2.00
55 – 59 C – 1.67
< 55 F 0.00
8. MISCELLANEOUS
8.1 ATTENDANCE
ADSM students are required to attend and participate fully in all classes, workshops,
and other sessions. Should students miss a class or a session, they MUST submit a
legitimate reason in writing to the Instructor before the course delivery. If a student
misses a class due to an unforeseen reason, the concerned student MUST submit the
legitimate reason in writing within three days of the course dates. The Instructor may
forward the student’s request to the Program Coordinator for approval.
8.2 MAINTAINING THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
Certain behaviors disrupt class, such as students arriving late, phones ringing,
inappropriate use of electronic devices, and students leaving the room during class. All members of the class are expected to respect the learning environment and the
lecturer’s efforts to maintain it. Repeat offenders can be reported to a disciplinary committee and may be withdrawn from the course at the discretion of the Dean.
8.3 PARTICIPATION
Students are expected to actively participate and engage in discussions in a constructive
manner. Students are expected to behave in a tolerant, responsible, and respectful way
towards their instructor, fellow students, and all members of the ADSM community.
8.4 PLAGIARISM
Plagiarism is the use of someone else’s ideas, words, projects, sentence structure, or other work without acknowledging the source. Plagiarism can be considered
intellectual theft. It is the responsibility of students to familiarize themselves and comply with all aspects of the ADSM Academic Integrity Policy – available on LMS
(http://lms.adsm.ac.ae/). The following rubric explains the penalties that will be applied to violations of academic integrity.
5
REM 8014 CONTROLLED
Late Academic Integrity: Severity of Violation Date
Category 0 1 2 3 4
Overall No errors related to
integrity
Limited errors but
no violation of
integrity
Misunderstanding
of academic
integrity
Disregard for
academic
integrity
Attempted
deception of
instructor
Description* Work consistently
attribute ideas,
language, and
graphics to the
original source in a
standard format
with no or few
errors
Work consistently
attribute ideas,
language, and
graphics to original
source, at times in a
nonstandard format
Work consistently
fails to attribute
ideas, language, and
graphics to original
source but without
obvious intent to
plagiarize
Work borrows
significantly
from uncredited
sources
Work borrows
completely from
other sources
without credit, or
attempts to hide
plagiarism with
alterations to text
Penalty No change in mark No change in mark 10% reduction in
mark
25% reduction in
mark
100% reduction in
mark
* Adapted from Robert Kane’s adaptation for His199 from rubric for WRT100 created by Jennifer Morrison.
Downloaded on 22 Nov. 2016 from: https://www.niagara.edu/assets/docs/pdfs/199assessmentrubric.doc
9. TEACHING SCHEDULE
Date
(Session) Topics Readings
Activities during lecture
period
Session 1
Sunday 6th
September
E-learning
session
• Introduction to Research and Analytics in Business
• Approaches to Research Analytics
• Delen, D., & Zolbanin, H. M. (2018). The analytics paradigm in business
research.
• Delen, D., & Ram, S. (2018). Research challenges and opportunities in business
analytics.
• Interactive Lecture using the MS Teams
platform
• Group Discussion
Session 2
Sunday 13th
September
E-learning
session
• Understanding Business Problems • Quantitative and Qualitative
Modeling methods
• Hindle, G., Kunc, M., Mortensen, M., Oztekin, A., & Vidgen, R. (2020).
Business analytics: defining the field and
identifying a research agenda.
• Interactive Lecture using the MS Teams
platform
• Group Discussion
6
REM 8014 CONTROLLED
Session 3
Sunday 20th
September
E-learning
session
• Elements of Modeling • Performing Data Analysis • Writing a Report
• Grover, V., Chiang, R. H., Liang, T. P., & Zhang, D. (2018). Creating strategic
business value from big data analytics: A
research framework.
• Krishnamoorthi, S., & Mathew, S. K. (2018). Business analytics and business
value: A comparative case study.
• Interactive Lecture
using the MS Teams
platform
• Group Discussion
• Individual out of Class Report (Online
Turnitin)
13 September 2020
Prepared by <Name>, <Title>
INSTRUCTIONS: Complete the acknowledgements section by listing people who assisted with conducting the research or preparing the report. You can also thank beneficiaries / participants.
We would like to thank the following people for their contribution to the <insert> and preparation of this report: <Insert names and titles of people to thank>.
Contents
INSTRUCTIONS: Update the Table of Contents as the final step before submitting your report.
INSTRUCTIONS: Update the List of Tables as the final step before submitting your report.
Table 1 Methods used to answer research questions 3
INSTRUCTIONS: Update the List of Figures as the final step before submitting your report.
INSTRUCTIONS: Delete any acronyms that you do not use in your report. Add any additional acronyms that you use. Acronyms should ONLY be used for things that appear more than 15 times in your report. If something appears less than 15 times it should be written out in full every time. The first time you use an acronym it should be written out in full with the acronym in parentheses afterwards.
NGO Non-Governmental Organization
| <Report Title>
13 September 2020 |
INSTRUCTIONS: Write the section last. The Executive Summary should be a maximum of 1 page for most reports.
<Insert 1 paragraph summarising the background to this report, including why the research was conducted>
<Insert 1 paragraph summarising the qualitative and quantitative methods used, including instruments, who collected the data, and the sample size>
· <Summarise key result in 1 sentence.
· <Summarise key result in 1 sentence.
· <Summarise key result in 1 sentence.
· <Summarise recommendation in 1 sentence>
· <Summarise recommendation in 1 sentence>
· <Summarise recommendation in 1 sentence>
INSTRUCTIONS: Complete the introduction with the background on the research project and its objectives.
<Insert background on the research project, including why this research is being conducted, the goal of the project, duration, donors, etc>
The objectives of this <insert> are to:
INSTRUCTIONS: Complete the background with details of the previous work
INSTRUCTIONS: List the research questions to be answered. Questions should be as specific as possible (e.g. “How many people in the target areas currently run a micro-enterprise?”, “Has beneficiaries’ quality of life improved compared to the baseline?” etc).
The research questions to be answered by this <insert> are:
INSTRUCTIONS: Describe the methods used to answer each research question. E.g. quantitative survey, interviews, focus groups, etc.
The <insert> will use <qualitative / quantitative / mixed> methods to answer the research questions. The following table summarises the methods used to answer each question:
Table 1 Methods used to answer research questions
| Research Question | Method Used to Answer Question |
| <Insert research question> | <Insert method> |
| <Insert research question> | <Insert method> |
| <Insert research question> | <Insert method> |
| <Insert research question> | <Insert method> |
INSTRUCTIONS: Describe the instruments used for each method (e.g. surveys, checklists, interview guides). Describe where the instrument came from, if it was pre-tested, and whether or not it has been used before. If the instrument was created by program staff then this should also be mentioned. Copies of all instruments should be included in the appendices.
<Describe the instruments and where they came from>
See <Appendix #> for the <instrument name>.
INSTRUCTIONS: Describe how the sample was selected (e.g. random, purposeful, convenience, etc), including the sample size, how it was calculated, and the sampling procedure. If there was a control or comparison group explain how they were selected.
<Describe the sample size and procedure>
INSTRUCTIONS: Describe who collected the data and how (e.g. was the data collected by program staff, volunteers or independent evaluators? Was it collected face-to-face or by phone? In which language? etc).
<Describe who collected the data and how>
INSTRUCTIONS: Describe how the data was entered into the computer and analysed. Which software was used? What statistical tests were used, if any? How was the qualitative data analysed?
<Describe how the data was entered and analysed>
INSTRUCTIONS: Describe the limitations of the study design (e.g. no control group, sample size too small, interviewers not independent, beneficiaries not willing to give accurate information etc) and how this could affect the results.
<Describe the limitations of the study>
INSTRUCTIONS: Present the results for each research question. Include charts and tables to illustrate the results. The text should highlight the most important information in the tables and charts, but should not repeat all the information in the tables and charts.
<Describe the results for the research question, including charts / tables as necessary>
| Heading 1 | Heading 2 | Heading 3 |
| Item1 | Item2 | Item3 |
| Item1 | Item2 | Item3 |
| Item1 | Item2 | Item3 |
| Item1 | Item2 | Item3 |
<Describe the results for the research question, including charts / tables as necessary>
INSTRUCTIONS: Complete this section by writing a discussion of the results, including possible explanations for the results (this could be due to the project or external factors). The views expressed in this section should be balanced and based on the evidence collected, not subjective opinion. No new results should be presented in this section.
<Insert a discussion covering the following points:
· Identify key issues in the results, particularly results that are large or unexpected.
· Give possible explanations for the results, including explanations related to the program as well as external causes.
· Discuss the implications of the results for the outcomes and impact of the program.
· Describe problems and/or limitations with the study, as well as how they might have affected the results.>
INSTRUCTIONS: Based on the results make recommendations (e.g. how the program should be designed, how it should be improved, or how future programs should be run, etc). Recommendations should be specific and identify who is responsible for implementing them.
Based on the results from the <insert> the following recommendations are made:
INSTRUCTIONS: Insert full references to documents mentioned in the text. References should include as a minimum the author, date, title, source, and URL of the document where available. All references should use the same format.
<Author>, <Date>. <Title>. <Source>. Available at: <URL>
<Author>, <Date>. <Title>. <Source>. Available at: <URL>
<Author>, <Date>. <Title>. <Source>. Available at: <URL>
<Author>, <Date>. <Title>. <Source>. Available at: <URL>
INSTRUCTIONS: Add any necessary appendices, including all instruments used for the research.
Series 1 Category 1 Category 2 Category 3 Category 4 4.3 2.5 3.5 4.5 Series 2 Category 1 Category 2 Category 3 Category 4 2.4 4.4000000000000004 1.8 2.8 Series 3 Category 1 Category 2 Category 3 Category 4 2 2 3 5
Sample Survey Questions, Answers and Tips
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Contents
Customer Satisfaction 4
Customer Support / Service Call Follow-up 6
Service Delivered Follow-up 8
Event Planning 8
Event Satisfaction (Post Event) 10
Membership Satisfaction 13
Newsletter Satisfaction 15
Website Satisfaction 17
Product Reviews 19
Understanding the Varied Interests of your Audience 19
Understanding your Brand 21
Sample Survey Questions, Answers and Tips| Page 4©Constant Contact, Inc. All rights reserved.
About these Sample Questions These sample questions are provided to help you determine what you should ask in a survey as well as what ques- tion type . The following are some sample questions for inspiration.
Note: Don’t forget that as part of Constant Contact’s Survey product, there are many professionally written and easily editable templates with many more suggestions for you.
Customer Satisfaction
Questions to Ask Suggested Question Type
Additional Suggestions
How long have you used our products/service?
Single-select multiple choice
Answer choices might include:
Less than 6 months•
1 year to less than 3 years•
3 years to less than 5 years•
5 years or more•
Which of our products/ser- vices do you use?
Multi-select mul- tiple choice
The answer choices will vary based on the products you offer. – Be sure to include an “Other” choice.
How frequently do you pur- chase from us?
Single-select multiple choice
Answer choices might include:
• Every day
• Every week
• Every 2 – 3 weeks
• Every month
• Every 2 – 3 months
• Every 4 – 6 months
• Once or twice a year
How would you rate your overall satisfaction with us?
Rate one item on a scale
Include a Comments area in the question to fi nd out why respondents rated you as they did. You might want to include rating scale answer choices such as:
• Very satisfi ed
• Somewhat satisfi ed
• Neutral
• Somewhat dissatisfi ed
• Very dissatisfi ed
Sample Survey Questions, Answers and Tips| Page 5©Constant Contact, Inc. All rights reserved.
Customer Satisfaction Continued… Questions to Ask Suggested
Question Type Additional Suggestions
How likely is it that you would recommend us to a friend/colleague?
Rate one item on a scale
Include a Comments area to fi nd out why respondents rated you as they did. Answer choices might include:
• Very likely
• Somewhat likely
• Neutral
• Somewhat unlikely
• Very unlikely
Please rate us on the follow- ing attributes:
Rate items on a scale
You might want to include rating scale answer choices such as:
• Very satisfi ed
• Somewhat satisfi ed
• Neutral
• Somewhat dissatisfi ed
• Very dissatisfi ed
You might also ask readers to rate you on the following attributes:
• Customer service
• Professionalism
• Quality of products/ser vices
• Customers’ needs
• Sales staff
• Price
How likely are you to contin- ue doing business with us?
Rate one item on a scale
Include a Comments area in the question to fi nd out why respondents rated you as they did. Answer choices might include:
• Very likely
• Somewhat likely
• Neutral
• Somewhat unlikely
• Very unlikely
Do you have any suggestions for improving our products/ services?
Open-ended text When creating the open-ended text question, you may wish to give respondents as much room as possible for their suggestions, choos- ing “10 Lines of Text/500 Characters” for the “Limit answers to” option.
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Customer Satisfaction Continued…
Questions to Ask Suggested Question Type
Additional Suggestions
Please indicate your gender. Single-select multiple choice
Answer choices would include “Female” and “Male”. It’s also polite to include a “Prefer not to answer” choice.
Which range includes your age?
Single-select multiple choice
Make sure the age ranges don’t overlap, which may cause confusion amongst your respon- dents. It’s also polite to include a “Prefer not to answer” choice. Example answer choices might be:
• Younger than 18
• 18 – 24
• 25 – 34
• 35 – 44
• 45 – 54
• 55 – 64
• 65 or older
• Prefer not to answer
Customer Support / Service Call Follow-up
Questions to Ask Suggested Question Type
Additional Suggestions
How satisfi ed are you overall with our customer support?
Single-select
multiple choice
Answer choices might include:
Very satisfi ed•
Somewhat satisfi ed•
Neutral•
Somewhat dissatisfi ed•
Very dissatisfi ed•
How satisfi ed were you with how the support staff resolved your most recent problem?
Single-select multiple choice
Answer choices might include:
• Very satisfi ed
• Somewhat satisfi ed
• Neutral
• Somewhat dissatisfi ed
• Very dissatisfi ed
If your problem was not resolved, did our staff offer to follow-up after the call?
Single-select multiple choice
Answers choices would include “Yes” and “No”
Sample Survey Questions, Answers and Tips| Page 7©Constant Contact, Inc. All rights reserved.
Customer Support / Service Call Follow-up Continued…
Questions to Ask Suggested Question Type
Additional Suggestions
Please rate our customer service representative on the following attributes.
Rate items on a scale
You might want to include rating scale answer choices such as:
• Very Poor
• Poor
• Fair
• Good
• Very Good
You might ask readers to rate the following features of your newsletter:
• Responsiveness
• Professionalism
• Politeness
• Knowledge of the problem
• Effi ciency in solving the problem
• Manner of handling follow-up questions
How long did you have to wait on the telephone before the customer support repre- sentative was available?
Single-select multiple choice
Answer choices might include:
• Less than 1 minute
• 1 to less than 3 minutes
• 3 to less than 5 minutes
• 5 to less than 10 minutes
• 10 minutes or over
How long did it take for customer support to resolve your problem?
Single-select multiple choice
Answer choices might include:
• Less than 5 minutes
• 5 minutes to less than 10 minutes
• 10 minutes to less than 20 minutes
• 20 minutes to less than 30 minutes
• 30 minutes or more
• Next day
• More than a day
• Problem did not get resolved
How many times did you contact customer support before your problem was resolved?
Single-select multiple choice
Answer choices might include:
• Once
• Twice
• Three times
• More than three times
• Problem is still unresolved
Sample Survey Questions, Answers and Tips| Page 8©Constant Contact, Inc. All rights reserved.
Customer Support / Service Call Follow-up Continued…
Questions to Ask Suggested Question Type
Additional Suggestions
Do you have any suggestions for improvement?
Open-ended text When creating the open-ended text question, you may wish to give respondents as much room as possible for their suggestions, choos- ing “10 Lines of Text/500 Characters” for the “Limit answers to” option.
Service Delivered Follow-Up
Questions to Ask Suggested Question Type
Additional Suggestions
Please complete the follow- ing. The service…
Single-select multiple choice
Be sure to include a “Comments” area. Answer choices might include:
• Was better than expected
• Matched expectations
• Was worse than expected
Please indicate your level of satisfaction with the follow- ing attributes of our service.
Rate items on a scale
Be sure to include a “Comments” area. The rating scale might be:
• Very Dissatisfi ed
• Somewhat Dissatisfi ed
• Neutral
• Somewhat Satisfi ed
• Very Satisfi ed
Items to rate might include:
• Delivery of service
• Quality of training provided to your staff
• Methods of communication
• Quality of support
• Quality of proposals created
• Price
• Post-service follow-up
• Knowledge of our staff
Do you have any suggestions for improvement?
Open-ended text When creating the open-ended text question, you may wish to give respondents as much room as possible for their suggestions, choos- ing “10 Lines of Text/500 Characters” for the “Limit answers to” option.
Sample Survey Questions, Answers and Tips| Page 9©Constant Contact, Inc. All rights reserved.
Service Cancellation Follow-Up
Questions to Ask Suggested Question Type
Additional Suggestions
How long did you use our ser- vice before you cancelled it?
Single-select multiple choice
Answer choices might include:
• Less than 6 months
• 6 months to less than 1 year
• 1 year to less than 3 years
• 3 years to less than 5 years
• 5 years or more
Why did you cancel our service? Select all that apply.
Multi-select mul- tiple choice
Be sure to include an “Other” choice. Answer choices might include
• Did not need it anymore
• Service was inconvenient to use
• Unhappy with customer service
• High cost of service
• Unhappy with payment plan
If you switched to another service provider, please indicate your reasons for doing so. Select all that apply.
Multi-select mul- tiple choice
Be sure to include an “Other” choice. Answer choices might include:
• Better quality of service
• Service is easier to use
• Better access to service
• Better customer service
• Better price
• Better payment plan
Event Planning
Questions to Ask Suggested Question Type
Additional Suggestions
Rank what is most important to you in attending an event.
Rank items nu- merically
Depending on your event planning needs, you might include answer choices such as:
• Convenience of event location
• Cost
• Availability of parking
• My interest in the scheduled speakers
• Topics covered are useful to me
• Timing of event fi t into my schedule
• Availability of networking time
Sample Survey Questions, Answers and Tips| Page 10©Constant Contact, Inc. All rights reserved.
Event Planning Continued…
Questions to Ask Suggested Question Type
Additional Suggestions
What day/time do you prefer to attend an event?
Single-select multiple choice
OR
Multi-select mul- tiple choice
If you want respondents to choose their top choice for a day/time, make the question a single-select question. If you want to know all of the days/times that they would be able to attend the event, make the question a multi- select question.
To help us pick a convenient location, please enter your zip code.
Open-ended text
How far are you willing to travel?
Single-select multiple choice
Do you prefer networking before, during or after an event?
Single-select multiple choice
OR
Multi-select mul- tiple choice
Rate your preference of an event on the following topics.
Do you have any suggestions for topics? If so, what?
Single-select multiple choice
Use “Yes” and “No” for the answer choices, then include a Comments area to capture the suggested topics.
Do you have any suggestions for speakers? If so, what?
Single-select multiple choice
Use “Yes” and “No” for the answer choices, then include a Comments area to capture the suggested speakers.
Event Satisfaction (Post Event)
Questions to Ask Suggested Question Type
Additional Suggestions
How satisfi ed are you with the event?
Rate one item on a scale
Include a Comments area to fi nd out why respondents rated the event as they did. Your rating scale might be:
• Very satisfi ed
• Somewhat satisfi ed
• Neutral
• Somewhat dissatisfi ed
• Very dissatisfi ed
Sample Survey Questions, Answers and Tips| Page 11©Constant Contact, Inc. All rights reserved.
Event Satisfaction (Post Event) Continued…
Questions to Ask Suggested Question Type
Additional Suggestions
Please rate your satisfaction with the following parts of the event.
Rate items on a scale
You might want to include rating scale answer choices such as:
• Very satisfi ed
• Somewhat satisfi ed
• Neutral
• Somewhat dissatisfi ed
• Very dissatisfi ed
You might list sessions and/or speakers from your agenda or you might ask readers to rate the following more general attributes of your events:
• Cost
• Location
• Exhibits/sessions
• Ease of transportation or parking
• Length of event
• Topic/theme
• Profi le of other attendees
• Food and beverages provided at breaks
How likely are you to recom- mend this event to a friend or colleague?
Single-select multiple choice
Include a Comments area in the question to fi nd out why respondents rated the event as they did.
Why did you attend our event? Select all that apply.
Multi-select mul- tiple choice
Be sure to include an “Other” choice. Answer choices might include:
• For networking
• Interest in event topic
• To support the organization
• You know the organizers or participants
How did you learn of our event? Select all that apply.
Multi-select mul- tiple choice
Be sure to include an “Other” choice. Answer choices might include:
• In the media (newspaper, magazine, trade journal, billboards, etc)
• Business network
• Membership announcement
• Through a friend
• On the internet
• While passing the event location
Sample Survey Questions, Answers and Tips| Page 12©Constant Contact, Inc. All rights reserved.
Event Satisfaction (Post Event) Continued…
Questions to Ask Suggested Question Type
Additional Suggestions
How did you learn of our event?
Single-select multiple choice
Include an “Other” choice so you can capture data from people who learned of the event from a source you did not anticipate. Answer choices might include:
• Word of mouth
• Website
• Direct mail
• Email message
• Flyer
What were your greatest take-aways from the event?
Open-ended text
Was the duration of the event:
Single-select multiple choice
Answer choices might include:
• Much too long
• A little long
• Just right
• A little short
• Much too short
Was the price of the event: Single-select multiple choice
Answer choices might include:
• Very expensive
• Somewhat expensive
• Priced right
• Somewhat inexpensive
• Very inexpensive
Which of our other events are you aware of?
Multi-select mul- tiple choice
Please provide suggestions for improving our future events
Open-ended text When creating the open-ended text question, you may wish to give respondents as much room as possible for their suggestions, choos- ing “10 Lines of Text/500 Characters” for the “Limit answers to” option.
Sample Survey Questions, Answers and Tips| Page 13©Constant Contact, Inc. All rights reserved.
Membership Satisfaction
Questions to Ask Suggested Question Type
Additional Suggestions
How long have you been a member?
Single-select multiple choice
Answer choices might include:
• Less than 6 months
• 6 months to less than 1 year
• 1 year to less than 3 years
• 3 years to less than 5 years
• 5 years or more
Why did you become a mem- ber? Select all that apply.
Multi-select mul- tiple choice
Be sure to include an “Other” choice. Answer choices might include:
• Wanted the membership benefi ts
• Interest in member only events
• Networking opportunities
• You were given the membership
• Needed to join for business reasons
Overall, how satisfi ed are you with your membership?
Single-select multiple choice
Be sure to include a “Comments” area. You might want to include rating scale answer choices such as:
• Very satisfi ed
• Somewhat satisfi ed
• Neutral
• Somewhat dissatisfi ed
• Very dissatisfi ed
How likely are you to rec- ommend our membership program?
Single-select multiple choice
Answer choices might include:
• Very likely
• Somewhat likely
• Neutral
• Somewhat unlikely
• Very unlikely
Sample Survey Questions, Answers and Tips| Page 14©Constant Contact, Inc. All rights reserved.
Questions to Ask Suggested Question Type
Additional Suggestions
How often do you use the following benefi ts?
Rate items on a scale
The rating scale might include:
• Very infrequently
• Infrequently
• Frequently
• Very frequently
• Do not use
• Was not aware of
The benefi ts to ask about will vary according to your organization but might include:
• Newsletter
• Discounts to events
• Access to research
• Access to member directory
• Opportunity to speak at events
What is your level of satis- faction with the following benefi ts?
Rate items on a scale
The benefi ts will vary according to your orga- nization but would be the same as those in the “How often do you use the following benefi ts?” question above. The rating scale might include:
• Very Unsatisfi ed
• Somewhat Unsatisfi ed
• Neutral
• Somewhat Satisfi ed
• Very Satisfi ed
Please rank, in of importance from most important to least important, the following reasons for becoming a member of our organization.
Rank items The reasons to rank will vary depending on your organization.
Do you have any suggestions for improving the overall membership experience?
Open-ended text When creating the open-ended text question, you may wish to give respondents as much room as possible for their suggestions, choos- ing “10 Lines of Text/500 Characters” for the “Limit answers to” option.
Membership Satisfaction Continued…
Sample Survey Questions, Answers and Tips| Page 15©Constant Contact, Inc. All rights reserved.
Newsletter Satisfaction
Questions to Ask Suggested Question Type
Additional Suggestions
What is your overall satisfac- tion with the newsletter?
Rate one item on a scale
You might want to include rating scale answer choices such as:
• Very satisfi ed
• Somewhat satisfi ed
• Neutral
• Somewhat dissatisfi ed
• Very dissatisfi ed
How often do you read our newsletter?
Single-select multiple choice
Answer choices might include:
• Always
• Frequently
• Sometimes
• Rarely
• Never
Rate your satisfaction with the following features of this newsletter.
Rate items on a scale
You might want to include rating scale answer choices such as:
• Very satisfi ed
• Somewhat satisfi ed
• Neutral
• Somewhat dissatisfi ed
• Very dissatisfi ed
You might ask readers to rate the following features of your newsletter:
• Length
• Content
• Layout
• Images
• Color
How relevant do you fi nd the information in the newslet- ter?
Rate one item on a scale
Answer choices might include:
• Very relevant
• Somewhat relevant
• Not at all relevant
Sample Survey Questions, Answers and Tips| Page 16©Constant Contact, Inc. All rights reserved.
Questions to Ask Suggested Question Type
Additional Suggestions
Please rank each part of the newsletter in of impor- tance to you.
Rank items nu- merically
Depending on what content you typically include in your newsletters, you might include choices such as:
• News
• Tips and Tricks
• Calendar of Events
• Industry Trends
• Featured Article
• Quick Links
What can we do to improve? Open-ended text When creating the open-ended text question, you may wish to give respondents as much room as possible for their suggestions, choos- ing “10 Lines of Text/500 Characters” for the “Limit answers to” option.
Would you be interested in providing content for this newsletter?
Single-select multiple choice
Use “Yes” and “No” for the answer choices, then include a Comments area to capture the respondent’s ideas.
When is the optimal day to receive this newsletter?
Single-select multiple choice
When is the optimal time of day to receive this newslet- ter?
Single-select multiple choice
How often would you like to receive this newsletter?
Single-select multiple choice
Newsletter Satisfaction Continued…
Sample Survey Questions, Answers and Tips| Page 17©Constant Contact, Inc. All rights reserved.
Website Satisfaction
Questions to Ask Suggested Question Type
Additional Suggestions
How satisfi ed are you with our website?
Rate a single item Answer choices might include:
• Very satisfi ed
• Somewhat satisfi ed
• Neutral
• Somewhat dissatisfi ed
• Very dissatisfi ed
How did you learn of our website? Select all that ap- ply.
Multi-select mul- tiple choice
Be sure to include an “Other” choice and a Comments area. Answer choices might include:
• Newspaper or magazine article
• Friend/colleague
• (Your company name) employee
• Company materials
• Google search
• Yahoo search
• Another search engine (please put the name in the Comments area below)
• Surfi ng the web
On your last visit, what was your primary reason for visit- ing our website?
Single-select multiple choice
Be sure to include an “Other choice. Answer choices might include:
• Seeking company information
• Seeking product information
• Seeking contact information
• Product purchase
• To fi nd calendar/schedule
• Seeking store hours
• Seeking store location/directions
How often do you visit our website?
Single-select multiple choice
Answer choices might include:
• Daily
• Weekly
• Monthly
• Quarterly
• Annually
Sample Survey Questions, Answers and Tips| Page 18©Constant Contact, Inc. All rights reserved.
Questions to Ask Suggested Question Type
Additional Suggestions
Please rate the following at- tributes of our website.
Rate items on a scale
You might want to include rating scale answer choices such as:
• Very satisfi ed
• Somewhat satisfi ed
• Neutral
• Somewhat dissatisfi ed
• Very dissatisfi ed
You might ask visitors to rate the following features of your web site:
• Ease of navigation
• Freshness of content
• Accuracy of information
• Quality of content
• Quantity of content
• Layout/design
• Customer support
Meeting your needs
How likely are you to visit our website again?
Single-select multiple choice
Answer choices might include:
• Very likely
• Somewhat likely
• Neutral
• Somewhat unlikely
• Very unlikely
Do you have any suggestions for improvement?
Open-ended text When creating the open-ended text question, you may wish to give respondents as much room as possible for their suggestions, choos- ing “10 Lines of Text/500 Characters” for the “Limit answers to” option.
Website Satisfaction Continued…
Sample Survey Questions, Answers and Tips| Page 19©Constant Contact, Inc. All rights reserved.
Product Reviews
Questions to Ask Suggested Question Type
Additional Suggestions
Have you used this product? Single-select multiple choice
Use “Yes” and “No” for the answer choices.
How do you rate this item on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being Extremely Dissatisfi ed and 5 being Extremely Satisfi ed.
Rate a single item Your answer options would be:
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
The text of the question tells respondents the meaning of that scale.
Please type your review in the space below.
Open-ended text When creating the open-ended text question, you may wish to give respondents as much room as possible for their suggestions, choos- ing “10 Lines of Text/500 Characters” for the “Limit answers to” option.
Understanding the Varied Interests of your Audience
(Segmenting- use the survey results to break your contacts into lists with similar interests so you can target your communications. )
Questions to Ask Suggested Question Type
Additional Suggestions
How long have you been a customer?
Single-select multiple choice
Answer choices might include:
• Less than 6 months
• 6 months to less than 1 year
• 1 year to less than 3 years
• 3 years to less than 5 years
• 5 years or more
What products / services of ours do you use?
Multi-select mul- tiple choice
Answer choices will vary based on the prod- ucts/services you offer. Be sure to include an “Other” choice.
How frequently do you use our products/services?
Single-select multiple choice
Answer choices might include:
• Every day
• Every week
• Every 2 – 3 weeks
• Every month
• Every 2 – 3 months
• Every 4 – 6 months
• Once or twice a year
Sample Survey Questions, Answers and Tips| Page 20©Constant Contact, Inc. All rights reserved.
Questions to Ask Suggested Question Type
Additional Suggestions
How important were each of the following attributes in your decision to purchase our product/service?
Rate items on a scale
You might want to include rating scale answer choices such as:
• Very important
• Somewhat important
• Neutral
• Somewhat important
• Very important
You might ask readers to rate the following attributes:
• Pricing
• Ease of use
• Quality of products/services
• Responsiveness of support staff
• Store location
Do you purchase mainly in the physical retail store or online?
Single-select multiple choice
What city do you live in? Single-select multiple choice
Include an “Other” choice so you can capture data from people who do not live in one of the cities you list.
Please indicate your gender. Single-select multiple choice
Answer choices would include “Female” and “Male”. It’s also polite to include a “Prefer not to answer” choice.
Which range includes your age?
Single-select multiple choice
Make sure the age ranges in your choices don’t overlap, which may cause confusion amongst your respondents. It’s also polite to include a “prefer not to answer choice”. Example answer choices might be:
• Younger than 18
• 18 – 24
• 25 – 34
• 35 – 44
• 45 – 54
• 55 – 64
• 65 or older
• Prefer not to answer
Understanding the Varied Interests of your Audience Continued…
Sample Survey Questions, Answers and Tips| Page 21©Constant Contact, Inc. All rights reserved.
Understanding your Brand
Questions to Ask Suggested Question Type
Additional Suggestions
Have you purchased or used our products/services within the past year?
Single-select multiple choice
Answer choices would be “Yes” and “No”.
When you hear our business- es name, what main idea comes to mind (something we stand for)?
Open-ended text OR Single-select multiple choice
Which question type you select depends upon whether you already have ideas you have tried to convey through your marketing or advertis- ing as well as the number of survey responses you expect to receive. If you expect many responses, you may wish to use a multiple choice question for ease of analyzing the data; otherwise, an open-ended question may lead you to fi nd unexpected trends in responses. If you use multiple choice, include an “Other” choice.
What do we do that makes us unique from competitors?
Open-ended text OR
Multi-select mul- tiple choice
Depends if you already have competitive differ- ences you’ve tried to message. See previous suggestion.
What is our business’ spe- cialty?
Open-ended text OR
Multi-select mul- tiple choice
Depends if you already have specialties you have tried to convey. See previous suggestion.
Compared with competitors, where do we rank in this specialty?
Rate one item on a scale
Answer choices might include:
• Much better than competitors
• Somewhat better than competitors
• The same as competitors
• Somewhat worse than competitors
• Much worse than competitors
If we aren’t #1, who is and why?
Open-ended text OR
Multi-select mul- tiple choice
Depends if you have identifi ed competitors. See previous suggestion.
What do you want or need most from businesses in this specialty?
Open-ended text
Is there an unaddressed need that we should focus on? If Yes, what is it?
Single-select multiple choice
Use “Yes” and “No” for the answer choices, then include a Comments area to capture the need.
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