Creating Audience Questionnaires:
Knowing your audience

When crafting a persuasive presentation it is imperative to know you audience.  And the best way to find out is to create a questionnaire.  You are aiming to find out what type of audience you have: unfavorable, neutral, or favorable.

​This Web Unit asks you to do the following:

1.   PLAN a well-thought out questionnaire 
​2.   REVIEW Your Textbook
3.   UTILIZE all three types of questions
4.   CREATE your questionnaire in Google Form
               WATCH a Google Forms Tutorial, if needed
​5.   UPLOAD & ANSWER the link to your questionnaire in the "Persuasive Questionnaire" DISCUSSION Board.

​When developing your questionnaire:
​
PLAN
Planning carefully is essential.  You will need to consider what information will be most useful to you.

• Do you want to know their age, gender, sexual preference, or political association?  Would this be important to your speech?

 
Your questionnaire should be designed to elicit the following information

• How much does your audience know about your topic?
• Are they aware of the problem?
• What is their interest level?​  How much do they care?
• Do they have a full understanding of the problem?
• How does your audience feel about “the problem”? 

• Do they believe the problem concerns them?
• How does your audience feel about your “solution”?
• How likely are they to agree with your plan of action? Do they have objections?  What are the objections?​
• If they believe in what you are advocating what stops them from taking action?​

REVIEW
​Your Textbook: It may not be effective to ask these questions directly.  Review the sample questionnaires in your text pp. 139-141.  Notice the notes that show you works and what fails to work and why.

UTILIZE 

Utilize all three types of questions
1.  Forced choice (multi-choice) questions

Forced choice questions limit the response a respondent can choose. 
While forced choice questions are time-efficient for the respondent, if not carefully developed they may not provide the information you are looking for. ​
​EXAMPLES
      Are you registered to vote?               YES      NO
      Have you ever donated blood?        YES      NO

2.  Linear Scale questions also called Likert Scale 

Scale questions are one of the most widely used question types in a survey. Scale questions ask the respondent express a level of "agreeing" or "disagreeing" about a certain topic or issue.   Generally, they come in 5, or 7-point scales and you’ve probably filled one out before.  When creating your questionnaire, pick one, 5 or 7, and stick with it.

EXAMPLES

3.  Open-ended questions

Open-ended questions take longer to complete because they allow the respondent to respond in any way they wish.  This can provide you with rich information that you may be able to quote in your speech.  On the other hand, the respondent may answer is a way that is not useful to you.  Be she to give careful consideration to how you work your question. 

​EXAMPLES
      Tell me about one of you most memorable dreams? 
      What are your experiences with social injustice?

Regardless of the question type, each question should be clear, unbiased and unambiguous

CREATE

CREATING QUESTIONNAIRES
​USING GOOGLE FORMS

Keep your questionnaire relatively brief

• 5 to 12 quality questions

• at least one forced choice question
• at least one scale question
• at least one but, no more than two open ended questions

Note: If you have never used google forms before, here is an excellent 9 minute tutorial.

UPLOAD & ANSWER

This assignment requires that you BOTH upload your questionnaire AND answer all your classmates' questionnaires.  Upload the link to your questionnaire in the Persuasive Questionnaire DISCUSSION Board on Canvas.  Your link must be uploaded on, or before, the due date.  The Discussion board will be open for a two extra days so that you can answer everyone's questionnaire.