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ChaPter 4 • InformatIon GatherInG: InteraCtIve methods 123

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HypeRCAse expeRienCe 4.2

“You’ve probably noticed by now that not everyone enjoys hyPeRcase Questions
filling out questionnaires at MRE. We seem to get more ques- 1. What evidence of questionnaires have you found at MRE?
tionnaires than most other organizations. I think it’s because Be specific about what you have found and where.
many of the employees, especially those from the old training 2. Critique the questionnaire that Snowden circulated. What can
unit, value the contributions of questionnaire data in our work be done to improve its reliability, validity, and response rate?
with clients. When you examine the questionnaire that Snowden Provide three practical suggestions.
distributed, you’ll probably want not only to look at the results 3. Write a short questionnaire to follow up on some aspects of
but also to critique it from a methods standpoint. I always feel the merger between Management Systems and the Training
strongly that we can improve our internal performance so that Unit at MRE that are still puzzling you. Be sure to observe
eventually we can better serve our clients. The next time we con- all the guidelines for good questionnaire design.
struct a questionnaire, we want to be able to improve three things: 4. Redesign the questionnaire you wrote in Question 3 so that it
the reliability of the data, the validity of the data, and the response can be used as a Web survey.
rate we get.”

3. Allowing respondents to self-administer the questionnaire at work and drop it in a centrally
located box.
4. Mailing questionnaires to employees at branch sites and supplying a deadline, instructions,
and return postage.
5. Administering the questionnaire electronically either via email or on the Web.
Each of these five methods has advantages and disadvantages. Most commonly, respondents
are allowed to self-administer a questionnaire. Response rates with this method are a little lower
than with the other methods because people may forget about the form, lose it, or purposely
ignore it. Self-administration, however, allows people to feel that their anonymity is ensured and
may result in less guarded answers from some respondents. Both email and Web surveys fall into
the category of self-administered questionnaires.
Administering a questionnaire electronically, either via email or posted on the Web, is
one way to quickly reach current system users. Costs of duplication are minimized. In addi-
tion, responses can be made at the convenience of the respondent and then can be automatically
collected and stored electronically. Some software permits respondents to begin answering a
survey, save their answers, and return to it for completion if they are interrupted. Reminders to
respondents can be easily and inexpensively sent via email, as can notifications to the analyst
about when the respondent has opened the email. Some software now turns email data into data
tables for use in spreadsheet or statistical analysis software. One of the popular services for cre-
ating and administering online surveys used by consultants is SurveyMonkey.com (see www.
surveymonkey.com), a Portland, Oregon, company started in 1999 that acquired an email mar-
keting services company called MailChimp to its product offerings. Mailchimp allows organiza-
tions to send email newsletters and design, send, and track email campaigns.
Research shows that respondents are willing to answer questions about highly sensitive mat-
ters via the Internet. Thus, questions that may be difficult to pose in person regarding systems
problems may be acceptable to ask on a Web survey.

Summary

This chapter covers three of the key interactive methods for information gathering that the systems analyst
can use: interviewing, joint application design (JAD), and construction of questionnaires. During the pro-
cess of interviewing analysts, a systems analyst should listen for HCI concerns related to ergonomics, aes-
thetics, usability, and usefulness, as well as goals, feelings, opinions, and informal procedures in interviews
with organizational decision makers. Interviews are planned question-and-answer dialogues between two