Session 2 Based Homework

Hi Class,

Recall that Session 2 was based on survey design - a critical and widely-used primary DC tool. IMO, it's hard to know the intricacies, advantages and limitations of the tool without getting your hands dirty actually designing a survey questionnaire.

This is a group based homework. Only one submission per group. If you don't know who your group is, pls ask Suresh Dasari about this.

Your client is a player in this space in India's top metros. Wants to know what the demand levels are like for such services at what price, who to target and how.

To understand the problem context, first read the following (small) newspaper articles from the past few months.

On demand homemade meals gaining ground with companies like Foodcloud, Holachef, Biteclub

If security concerns not addressed, on-demand service startups could spell disaster for firms

On-demand home services firm Zimmber in final stages to raise $12 million

Your task is to design a questionnaire that: a. surveys target segment respondents on their propensity to use app-based on-demand home services (e.g., food, housekeeping, hairdressing, maybe even nursing or other medical help etc).

b. can be taken in <15 minutes on a good net connection

c. collects info on the distribution of quantities of interest (such as awareness levels about these services, interest levels in using them, what all services are being considered, what price levels might be viable, etc.)

My suggestions before starting: Come up with a (sharply defined) D.P. and corresponding R.O.s for the client's problem.

1. Pick a city. Pick a few home services your client is offering. Define who the target segment is.

2. To understand this target segment's needs and preferences, do some preliminary, quick qualitative research: E.g., conduct a few interviews (these could be casual conversations or telephonic ones) with a few people in that target segment about the subject. Find out what they think, what they need, what they see others around them doing etc.

3. From the qualitative research, draw up a list of topics to be covered --> information requirements --> in the questionnaire. Don't pick too many topics - just a few which you can cover well (your R.O.s should have explicitly spelt them out).

4. Then map these information requirements into a set of survey questions which meet the Dos and Don'ts of quiestionnaire design we covered in class.

5. Write (or 'Program') your survey into Qualtrics. Obtain the "launch" survey link.

6. Bonus points for using SKIP logic in Qualtrics, pretesting the survey with a few folks first, accounting for order effects etc in questionnaire design, etc.

Submission format: Start with a plain white PPT.

Title slide: Homework name and names+ roll numbers of group members.

First slide: Statement of D.P and corresponding R.O.s

Second slide: Description of qualitative research carried out to first narrow-down what topics to cover in the survey.

Third slide: Listing of the topics (or 'constructs') covered in the survey and corresponding number and type of questions per topic. For example, "Topic: Awareness level of home-based services Questions: 3 Likerts, 2 MCQs".

Fourth slide: Deliverable - qualtrics websurvey link. Also, attach the PDF version of your questionnaire onto this slide.

Fifth slide: Any learnings you as a group made - E.g., what constructs were the easiest to measure? hardest? Etc.

Update: In the past, I got quite a few Qs asking if a scale other than Likert can be used etc. Sure, it can. Likert is important in the context of behavioral constructs. For regular, descriptive Qs, use other scales by all means. *Not* every Q has to be a likert.

The instructions for how to get a qualtrics account will be put up on LMS, if they haven't been done so already.

Deadline for this is midnight of 11-Oct (sunday).

Any queries etc, let me know.

Sudhir