Zikmund (2003, p.331) suggests that questions in the questionnaire should be relevant, so that the information collected is appropriate in solving the research problem. After a comprehensive review of the literature, a questionnaire was developed by the researcher as a tool for collecting data. Welman, et al. (2005, p.153) recommends that when compiling a questionnaire, the eyesight and literacy level of the intended respondents should be taken into consideration. He further indicates that the intended
Page 77 respondents should be able to read, write and to follow the instructions (Welman, et al., 2005). The target population in this study consisted of qualified pharmacists who were able to read, write and follow the instructions in the questionnaire as tested in a pilot study.
In addition to the above, Welman, et al. (2005) and Leedy and Ormrod (2001) have provided the following guidelines on developing questionnaires:
(i) Take the respondents’ level of literacy into consideration. When formulating questions, the researcher should use the concepts and words with which the researcher expects respondents to be familiar in order to obtain accurate information.
(ii) Keep the questions brief and the questionnaire as short as possible. (iii) Maintain neutrality. The questions should not be formulated in a way that
encourages respondents to answer in a particular way
(iv) Provide clear instructions. Specify exactly how you want respondents to answer the questions.
(v) Be careful not to offend, that is, avoid using technical terms and terms that may offend respondents.
(vi) The questionnaire should look professional.
The above guidelines were considered and a questionnaire developed by the researcher. The questionnaire was divided into five sections: Sections A to E. These sections are discussed in more details on the following page.
Page 78 Section A
Section A of the questionnaire was designed to collect the biographical data of the research population, for example, the respondents’ age group and educational qualifications.
Section B
This section assessed the level of job satisfaction of pharmacists in the pharmaceutical industry. According to Smith (2002, p.44), factors contributing to job satisfaction are complex and the relative importance of these factors varies among different people, therefore a set consisting of 15 questions was used.
Section C
Section C focused on job-related factors that may contribute to employee turnover. This includes leadership, salary and benefits, opportunities for advancement, recognition and stress.
Sections D and E
Section D and E focused on the employee’s intention to stay/leave and retention strategies respectively.
Closed-ended questions were used in the questionnaire. Welman, et al. (2005) advises that it is easier to compare respondents’ responses when using close-ended questions and that the questionnaires may be easier to complete than with open-ended questions. A five point rating scale used ranged from “Strongly agree” to ‘Strongly disagree”. According to Green, Tull and Albaum (1988, p.249), the success of a research depends
Page 79 on the accuracy of the measuring instrument used. A comprehensive literature review on the construction of a questionnaire was undertaken. The reliability and validity of the questionnaire that was developed were also tested as described in 3.4.2 and 3.4.3.
3.4.1 Pilot studies in the development of the questionnaire
Welman, et al. (2005, p.148) suggest that when a new measurement instrument is developed, it is important to “test it out” before it is administered to the sample group. This entails administering the instrument to a limited number of participants from the same population as that from which sampling is intended. The pilot study is intended to detect possible flaws in the measuring instrument, such as ambiguous instructions (Welman, et al., 2005).
In the present study, a pilot study was conducted on five pharmacists working in the pharmaceutical industry. All five pharmacists indicated that the questionnaire was easy to complete and that completion took approximately 15 minutes.
3.4.2 Reliability of the measuring instrument
Reliability is concerned with the findings of the research and relates to the credibility of the findings (Welman, et al. 2005, p.145). If a measuring instrument is considered reliable, comparable results should be obtained for the same individual irrespective of who is administering the measuring instrument and when it is administered (Welman, et
al. 2005, p.145).
The “test-retest reliability” involves administering the measuring instrument on at least two occasions to the same sample and then correlating the two sets of scores using a correlation coefficient. In this study, “the test-retest reliability” was performed using three of the five pharmacists who took part in the pilot study where the same questionnaire
Page 80 was administered on two occasions and the scores were compared and found to be similar. Two of the pharmacists who took part in the pilot study did not agree to complete the questionnaire twice, citing time constraints.
3.4.3 Validity of the measuring instrument
Welman, et al. (2005, p.142) define validity as the extent to which research findings accurately represent what is happening in the real situation. In this study, the questions in the questionnaire were developed based on the theoretical content of the constructs that were measured. A comprehensive literature review was performed prior to constructing the measuring instrument and both the literature review and the measuring instrument were reviewed by the research supervisor who is an expert in the field.