Page 90 - Design for Six Sigma for Service (Six SIGMA Operational Methods)

Customer Survey Design, Administration, and Analysis 71

3. Inverted funnel: From specific to general.
4. Tree pattern: The questions branch out in different directions,
depending on the respondent’s answers to early questions.
The question organizational pattern should be chosen based on the goals
and objectives of the customer survey. Usually, topically related questions
should be grouped together.

Example 4.3: The Following Is an Example of a Good Grouping of
Questions
1. How would you describe the current relationship between labor and
management?
Good ____ Fair ____ Poor ____
2. During the past five years, do you think this labor-management relationship has
Improved ____ Remained the same ____ Worsened ____

3. In what way do you think the labor-management relationship can be improved?
These three questions are related and in logical order. However, let’s we put the
following three questions together.

1. Do you or your coworker participate in a company-sponsored suggestion
program?
Yes ____ No ____

2. During the last five years, do you think this labor-management relationship has
Improved ____ Remained the same ____ Worsened ____
3. Would you be interested in a job training program?
Yes ____ No ____

The respondents will be able to answer these questions, but they may get dis-
oriented after answering 10 or more of these kinds of misplaced questions.

4.2.4 Questionnaire Length

The questionnaire should be as concise as possible while covering the
necessary subjects based on the goals and objectives of the survey. Practice
has shown that when the survey becomes too long, the response rate and the
quality of the answers will go down significantly.
As a general guideline, telephone interviews should be less than 20 minutes;
mail-out questionnaires should not take more than 30 minutes to answer;