Page 88 - Design for Six Sigma for Service (Six SIGMA Operational Methods)

Customer Survey Design, Administration, and Analysis 69

open-ended questions. First, open-ended questions will elicit some irrelevant
answers. Second, it takes a lot more effort to analyze open-ended questions,
since the number of distinct answers from all respondents may be very high
and messy, Thirdly, open-ended questions are difficult to analyze by sta-
tistical methods, because statistical methods require some degree of data
standardization.
Overall, it is highly recommended that most survey questions be in the form
of closed-ended questions to ensure a higher response rate, shorter ques-
tionnaire completion time, and easier data analysis.

4.2.2 The Wording of Survey Questions
The wording of survey questions is very important for a successful customer
survey. Good survey questions should be
1. Clear, easily understandable, and stated in a direct and straightforward
way
2. Specific and precisely stated so the respondent knows exactly what is
being asked
3. Unambiguous and unequivocal so there is only one way to understand
or interpret what the question is asking about
4. Simple and brief rather than complicated, cluttered, and long-winded
5. Stated in terms that your respondents are likely to be familiar and
comfortable with, without using complex technical terminology,
jargon, or overly sophisticated wording

Good survey questions should not be
1. Leading. They should not draw the respondent toward a specific
answer or make some answers clearly unattractive or undesirable.
2. Multipurpose. They should not ask about two or more things together
in the same question.
3. Threatening. They should not make the respondent uncomfortable or
put the respondent in a difficult or compromising position.

Example 4.1: Here Is an Example of a Multiple Purpose Question
Do you believe the development of the I-696 freeway entrance will affect the
image and property value for our whole subdivision?

Yes____ No____
This question is difficult to answer, because a yes or no answer indicates that the
respondent feels that both the image and property value will be affected in the