Preparing an Effective Questionnaire That Elicits the Maximum Rate of Responses - Case Study Example

RESEARCH METHODS - Preparing an effective questionnaire that elicits the maximum rate of responses] Name] [Date] INTRODUCTION This is a research report focusing on the designing of the questionnaire, as well as the pretesting results of the questionnaire. Depending on the results, appropriate recommendations and changes would be suggested. The report aims to focus on the employees of the Etisalat Telecom organization, which is based in Dubai, UAE. General Research Objectives The general title of this research is "to gauge the strength of the employer branding and its effectiveness at Etisalat Telecom". Specific Research Objectives The research objectives set for achievement at the end of this research process are: To know about the level of job satisfaction that each of the 12 respondents has with their job in the sales support analyst and customer billing. To gauge the effectiveness of the working environment/ working conditions present in Etisalat Telecom and how it contributes to the productivity and satisfaction of the respondents To gauge the satisfaction level of the workers with the working hours that they have in Etisalat Telecom To gauge their attitude towards the level of flexibility that they get in their professional life at Etisalat Telecom To analyze the various career paths that the respondents wish to pursue themselves, irrespective of whether it matches with their current job or not To gauge the effectiveness of the appraisal system which has been in place in Etisalat Telecom, and if it has given the employees their deserved appraisal and place in the organization To gauge the effectiveness of the employee benefits that are being given to these employees Hypothesis 1. The salary and benefits are de-motivating for the employees. 2. The working environment helps in increasing job satisfaction. 3. The employees are satisfied with the working hours. 4. The employees believe the appraisal system has given them the deserving raise in career. 5. Etisalat is the perfect place to follow their career paths. 6. Etisalat is effective in communicating with the employees, keeping them involved and aware. QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN Cover Letter Dear Respondent, This is to invite you to participate in this research project, organized by your organization, Etisalat Telecom, to study the level of job satisfaction that you have as an esteemed and value employee. Etisalat wants to know how effective of an employer it has been to you. Attached with this letter, you will find a short questionnaire, which will have various questions, which will gauge your level of satisfaction regarding different aspects of Etisalat as an employer. Please go through the questionnaire, and answer the questions. We will collect it from you within 3 days. The questionnaire should not take you more than 20 minutes. The results of this research project will benefit you only, since it will enlighten Etisalat about where it is going strong and where it is lacking, when it comes to its reputation as an employer. We aim to use the results of the survey for future decision making, with respect to policies regarding many work related and employees-affecting issues. The results might not be shared with you, but their after effects will be quite visible to you, in the decisions that are then taken place. You are not exposed to any kind of risks while filling the form and we promise complete confidentiality when it comes to your responses. Your responses will not be shared with anyone and will stay within the research group that is conducting this research. If you do not personally wish to hand over the survey to us, we have alternatives for you. You can leave it in the postbox of Etisalat and address it to us. Your participation is completely your choice and voluntary, but we would love it if you participate. If you have any queries or comments regarding this questionnaire, contact us at 034-5678908. This study has been approved by an external research organization to ensure that it fulfills the ethics of any research. Looking forward to your participation. Regards, XYZ Questionnaire Please tick either one of the following: Strongly agree, Agree, Neither agree nor disagree, Disagree or Strongly disagree for each of the questions. Sr. # Statement Strongly Agree (5) Agree (4) Neither Agree nor Disagree (3) Disagree (2) Strongly Disagree (1) 1 Events (such as Annual Functions, Employee Appreciation Days etc.) organized by Etisalat for employees are highly motivating.           2 Communication with employees regarding various corporate happenings via different medium like posters, standees and emails through Etisalat are very effective.           3 Posters, standees and mails via Etisalat are floated very slowly, after long intervals.            4 The corporate culture at Etisalat is one of its kinds in the entire job market.           5 Apart from the events and communications, other employee benefits and compensation is equally taken care of by Etisalat.           The following questions require that you tick one or as many as options as you like, depending on the instructions given in individual questions: 6. Keeping the salary and benefits constant, how important do you think is the working environment for the employees? Tick one.  Very Important      Important      Indifferent      Unimportant      Highly Unimportant 7. Are you satisfied with the working hours at Etisalat Telecom?  Yes  No 8. How frequently did you work over-time at Etisalat Telecom? Tick one. Every day  5-6 times a week 2-4 times a week Once a week  Less than once a week  Never 9. Please check which of the following aspects of Etisalat Telecom need to be improved. Tick as many as necessary. The salary The benefits The working environment The working hours The appraisal system The communication 10. What do you like best about your job? Tick one. The salary The benefits The working environment The working hours The appraisal system The communication The nature of work 11. I feel Etisalat Telecom is the perfect organization for taking the career path that I have planned to pursue.  Agree  Disagree 12. Divide 100 points among the following characteristics of an organization according to how important each characteristic is to you when choosing an employer? For instance, if you think salary is the most important, then assign 50 points to salary, and then divide the remaining points among the other characteristics. The more points you give to a characteristic, the more important it is to you. Remember: the total should come to 100 points. The salary _____________________________ The benefits ____________________________ The working environment _________________ The working hours _______________________ The appraisal system ______________________ The communication _______________________ 13. Overall, how satisfied are you with Etisalat Telecom, as an employer? Extremely Satisfied 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Extremely Dissatisfied 14. Do you have any comments or suggestions about Etisalat Telecom? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Age: _____     Gender: __________ Category: _______________________     QUESTIONNAIRE – GOOD PRACTICES – DOS AND DON’TS The popular research book "Business Research Methods" by Zikmund says that "a survey is as good as the question it asks". Therefore, the research will be as authentic and proper and will give the required results, if the questions designed are intelligent, elicit common sense and have the proper grammar. (Zikmund, 2002) The two most fundamental criteria that have to be met by a questionnaire are that it should be relevant and it should be accurate. (Picard, 1980) The research objectives should be reflected in each question of the questionnaire, and each question should hit the spot in finding out the answers to the research problem. The rule is to ensure that the design of the questionnaire varies with each question, so that each question will find what it is aiming to find, because a certain method of asking a question may be best for a certain attitude rating of the respondent. (Byres, 1998) The questionnaire should not be long, the questions should not be too complex and they should not hurt or be threatening to the ego of the respondent. The questions have to be designed very tactfully and in a scrutinized manner to ensure that they are free of any sort of bias or complexity. Leading or loading questions are one of the best ways to make a question biased. In the leading questions, the words are such that they come together to form a sentence which actually suggests a specific answer to the respondent.(Thomas, 2004) And loading questions are those which have such wordings which suggest that a certain answer will be socially acceptable and that the respondent is kind of forced to choose it. Another type of questions which increase the complexity and bias are the double barred questions, which deal with two issues at once and the respondent might answer having one question in mind, but in reality, he has also responded to the other issue in consideration. (Spicer, 2001) QUESTIONNAIRE COMMENTARY AND DISCUSSION Sampling is the choosing of a sample from the whole of the target population, and the results of the sample can then be generalized for the whole of the target population. The number of sample chosen for this survey is 12, and they all belong to either the sales support analyst or the customer billing department of Etisalat Telecom. The sampling technique used is quota sampling, since 50% quota is for the sales support analyst and 50% quota is for the customer billing. This sampling method can lead to possible bias, since there has been no probability sampling, and the sample has been chosen by convenience. (Picard, 1980) The name of the employee has not been asked, since it makes no difference to the results of the survey. Etisalat Telecom is divided in categories, which are three. The first one is the executive level, which consists of the color codes blue and purple. Next is the managerial level, which consists of the color codes green and turquoise. And the last level is that of the non-managerial level, which consists of all the rest color codes. Thus, representations from all categories have been inculcated within the sample, from the sales support analyst and customer billing. As for gender, both males and females respondents have been approached. In age wise analysis, age brackets have been developed, and analysis will be done on that basis. (Bryman, 2007) Many scales have been used in the formation of the questionnaire. First and foremost, the famous Likert scale has been used, which is the summated ratings method. Moreover, the numerical scale has been used, which uses numbers to identify the strength of the response. For the population that is educated, and the sample selected in this research is an educated one, the numerical scale works very well. In addition to that, the constant sum scale has been used, which allows the organization to see the amount of numbers which have been allocated to each characteristic. This scale also works great for those respondents which have a high education level. (Zikmund, 2002) The category scales have also been used, which indicate the category to which the respondent would like to assign the question. The category scales used have 5 options, which make the question a sensitive judge of the attitude of the respondents. All the questions in the questionnaire are fixed-alternative questions, except for one in the end, which is an open-ended question and it aims to find out whatever the fixed alternatives could not. (McNamara) PRETESTING RESULTS The questionnaire formed above was then pretested to ensure that it actually meets the researchers needs. Basically, it has to be seen if the reliability and the validity of the research can be ensured through this questionnaire and that all objectives are being made. Pretests can either be declarative, where the respondent knows that the questionnaire is in the pre-testing phase; or undeclared, where the respondent fills the questionnaire as if it is for real. The pretesting results for this questionnaire were quite positive. Still, limited number of flaws was present, which were then corrected. For instance, the instructions before the start of questions whether to tick etc were not that clear. The questionnaire should be such which guides the respondent smoothly throughout its process. Moreover, one of the questions, which have the constant sum scale, was becoming a little too complicated for the respondents to understand easily. Therefore, an example was given with the question so that respondents can quickly comprehend. In addition to that, it was seen that the date of joining which was also asked at the end of the questionnaire was not too crucial of a data for the research to be completed. Therefore, it was eliminated. Let us go question by question: 1. Events (such as Annual Functions, Employee Appreciation Days etc.) organized by Etisalat for employees are highly motivating. 66% of respondents agree with the statement, thus events organized are well taken. Only 1 respondent disagrees. 2. Communication with employees regarding various corporate happenings via different medium like posters, standees and emails through Etisalat are very effective. Respondents are quite indifferent to the effectiveness of the communication. 66% neither agree, nor disagree. 3. Posters, standees and mails via Etisalat are floated very slowly, after long intervals.  The same response as above comes to this question as well. Respondents are indifferent. 4. The corporate culture at Etisalat is one of its kinds in the entire job market. Again, respondents are indifferent to the corporate culture. They would neither agree nor disagree about the culture being unique. 5. Apart from the events and communications, other employee benefits and compensation is equally taken care of by Etisalat. As is seen again from this question, the data is skewed to the middle, with majority neither agreeing, nor disagreeing. 6. Keeping the salary and benefits constant, how important do you think is the working environment for the employees? Lots of importance is given to the working environment, with 5 calling it very important, and 5 calling it important. None disagree. 7. Are you satisfied with the working hours at Etisalat Telecom? There is a lot of satisfaction with the working hours, with 83% of respondents agreeing that the working hours are great. 8. How frequently did you work over-time at Etisalat Telecom? WORKING OVER TIME Every day 0 5-6 times a week 0 2-4 times a week 8 Once a week 3 Less than once a week 1 Never 0 There is a high frequency of overtime among respondents, since 8 respondents work over time around 2-4 times a week. 9. Please check which of the following aspects of Etisalat Telecom need to be improved. FACTORS THAT NEED IMPROVEMENT Salary 0 Benefits 0 Working Environment 0 Working Hours 1 Appraisal System 9 Communication 2 The highest votes are received by the appraisal system, since respondents believe that it is not perfect, and they do not get the deserved raise and treatment. 10. What do you like best about your job? FACTOR LIKED BEST Salary 8 Benefits 2 Working Environment 1 Working Hours 0 Appraisal System 0 Communication 0 Nature of work 0 The best thing about the job is the salary, as said by majority of respondents. 11. I feel Etisalat Telecom is the perfect organization for taking the career path that I have planned to pursue. Majority of respondents believe Etisalat Telecom helped them in the career path that they wanted. 12. Divide 100 points among the following characteristics of an organization according to how important each characteristic is to you when choosing an employer? The question was not well understood by the respondents. It needs to be refined. 13. Overall, how satisfied are you with Etisalat Telecom, as an employee? Extremely Satisfied 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Extremely Dissatisfied The majority of respondents are concentrated on the number 5, which means that they are tilted towards the satisfied side of the continuum. Therefore, they are satisfied overall with Etisalat. 14. General comments? The general comments are that the work should not be too much, and that more staff should be hired to decrease the load on the employees. Moreover, the appraisal system needs a major re-haul, since the bonuses have been decreased, and the lower grade staff does not get the perks that they should. The flexibility of the working hours also needs improvement. Another major comment is that the staff needs to be permanently hired, those which were of temporary contracts. Those staff has been waiting to get permanent since quite some time, resulting in loss of trust in the company. The positives are that the salary package has been appreciated. CONCLUSIONS AND SUMMARY In conclusion, it can be said that the employees of the Etisalat Telecom will find the questionnaire an easy one to fill. Plus, since it is for their own benefit, the researchers should effortlessly find the respondents. It is a great way for the employees to express themselves, and that too, anonymously. The questionnaire, consisting of 14 questions should not take more than 20 minutes to fill. It is hoped that the questions will appear to the respondents as comprehensible, free of bias, and would not make them threatened about any sensitive issues like race, ethnicity, gender etc. The respondents have a right, as a participant, and they can claim complete confidentiality of results. RECOMMENDATIONS There can always be room for improvement, and thus that applies to this questionnaire as well. The specific objectives of gauging the working environment have not been tested that well, and thus there can be further questions on it. The same goes for the flexibility level that Etisalat Telecom offers. Moreover, question number 12 needs to be improved. The wording, the formation was such which became complex for the respondents to understand, and thus it has not been answered in the right manner. In the future, further care should be taken that the questions are such that they can be self administered by the respondents easily. REFERENCES Books Thomas, J. (2004) Using web and paper questionnaires for data-based decision making. Corwin Press. Byres, J. (1998) The nature and development of decision making: a self regulation model. Routledge. Picard, C. (1980) Graphs and questionnaires. Elsevier. Spicer, D. (2001) The general decision making questionnaire: a confirmatory analysis. University of Bradford. Zikmund, W. (2002) Business research methods. Harvard Business School. Bryman, A. (2007) Business research methods. Oxford University Press. Websites McNamara, C. Basic Business Research Methods. Free Management Library. [Internet] Available from [Access Date: 20th May 2010] (2010) Business Research Methodology. Information Sources. [Internet] Available from [Access Date: 20th May 2010] Read More