Page 133 - The Handbook for Quality Management a Complete Guide to Operational Excellence

120 I n t e g r a t e d P l a n n i n g U n d e r s t a n d i n g C u s t o m e r E x p e c t a t i o n s a n d N e e d s 121

• Fill-in-the-blank questions. Here the respondent is provided with
directions that specify the units in which the respondent is to
answer. The instructions should be explicit and should specify the
answer units. This type of question should be reserved for very
specific requests, for instance, “What is your age on your last
birthday? (age in years).”
• Yes/no questions. Unfortunately, yes/no questions are very popular.
Although they have some advantages, they have many problems
and few uses. Yes/no questions are ideal for dichotomous variables,
such as defective or not defective. However, too often this format
is used when the measure spans a range of values and conditions,
for example, “Were you satisfied with the quality of your new car
(yes/no)?” A yes/no response to such questions contains little
useful information.
• Ranking questions. The ranking format is used to rank options
according to some criterion, for example, importance. Ranking
formats are difficult to write and difficult to answer. They give
very little real information and are very prone to errors that can
invalidate all the responses. They should be avoided whenever
possible in favor of more powerful formats and formats less prone
to error, such as rating. When used, the number of ranking
categories should not exceed five.
• Rating questions. With this type of response, a rating is assigned on
the basis of the score’s absolute position within a range of possible
values. Rating scales are easy to write, easy to answer, and provide
a level of quantification that is adequate for most purposes. They
tend to produce reasonably valid measures. Here is an example of
a rating format:
For the following statement, check the appropriate box:
The workmanship standards provided by the purchaser are
n Clear
n Marginally adequate
n Unclear
• Guttman format. In the Guttman format, the alternatives increase in
comprehensiveness; that is, the higher-valued alternatives include
the lower-valued alternatives. For example,
Regarding the benefit received from training in quality improvement:
n No benefit identified
n Identified benefit
n Measured benefit
n Assessed benefit value in dollar terms
n Performed cost/benefit analysis

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