The actual questionnaire (listed at the end of this chapter page 144) comprises of 20 questions with some of them having the format of an open question (2 questions: one in Section A: QA1 and one in Section B: QB1), some of a closed one (10 questions: 1 in Section A: QA5 and the rest 9 in Section C: QC1 – QC9) and some involving the five point Likert scale format (8 questions: 4 questions in Section A: QA2 – QA4, QA6 and 4 questions in Section B: QB2- QB5).
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The choice of two open questions was based on the fact that the researcher wanted to leave the respondents to express their opinions in their own way. That is an advantage as it leaves unusual responses to be derived (Bryman and Bell, 2015). An open question gives the respondent the opportunity to provide an answer in their choice style (Sarantakos, 1998). Through this way it is not suggested certain kinds of answers to be given and therefore the salience of issues for the respondents can be explored. Also an open question provides the opportunity to explore new areas as there is no specified limit to the respondents answer.
Here as the target was to identify any kind of service failure within the airline industry an open question is ideal as it can bring a variety of issues in the surface. Additional to that it can offer the choice to the respondent to have a very accurate answer but to create an arduous analysis of it (Hussey and Hussey, 1997). It can also in the case of very open questions to have extensive answers that they would need some time to apply a coding frame for them (Bryman and Bell, 2015).
The rest of the questions consisted of ten close questions and eight with use of Likert type scale. The choice for the ten closed questions was due to the fact that it is easier to process answers (Bryman and Bell, 2015). That is because the respondent will only have to tick or circle an answer that fits better to his/hers response and through this the appropriate code will be ‘mechanically’ rise for further data analysis. A closed one comprises of fixed options giving the opportunity the respondent to choose the one he or she approves better (Sarantakos, 1998). It brings a more direct and easier to examine response as the choice range is very restricted (Hussey and Hussey, 1997). Additionally through a closed question the comparativeness of answers is easier to be studied and the relationship of variables to be monitored faster. Also a close question can clarify sometimes the vague perception of the respondent regarding as to where the question is getting at and through the offered available answers that situation can be sorted (Bryman and Bell, 2015).
Further, close questions can reduce the chances of high variability in the recording of answers and they also are less time consuming which facilitates the process of completing the questionnaire within logical amount of time (e.g. 20 minutes). As a downside can be the fact that respondents can come up with answers that are not covered through the fixed answers provided (Bryman and Bell, 2015).
Both types of questions (open and close) however bring advantages and disadvantages and that has the support of many researchers (Hussey and Hussey, 1997; Sarantakos, 1998).
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The remaining eight questions had included the use of Likert type scale. That was mainly because the usage of scales can provide measurement of the concept through multiple indicators rather than just a single one. Through this way the complexity of the concept is being reduced. Additionally the usage of multiple indicators helps in providing more valid measures and therefore increases reliability and brings more precision (De Vaus, 2013). Further the analysis of the collected information through questions that use scales can be considerably simplified. That can be achieved through gathering information that exist in multiple questions and do the analysis through the usage of a single variable, not be analysing each question separately.
Further on, the use of Likert type scales was adopted due to the fact that decisions are based on outcomes such as the mean score and many marketing organizations and research providers have a preference on Likert type scales for measuring concepts such as customer satisfaction (Dawes, 2008). Additionally according to Dawes (2008), aspects of data such as mean variation, skewness and kurtosis and also regression analysis which are used to explain variation in several variables are facilitated through the use of Likert type scales.
During the design phase of a rating scale it has to be decided how many points will be included on the scale. Likert (1932) type scales in most cases make use of a 5 point scale (Krosnick and Presser, 2010). However there is variation to that as there is no standardize number for points on rating scales and common practice fluctuates. For example the American Elections surveys have used in the past a range that included from 2-, 3-, 4-, 5-, 7-, and even 101-point scales! (Krosnick and Presser, 2010 p.268).
In this study there was usage of 5-point scale as Dawes (2008) showed that the 7-point scales produce the same mean score with the 5-point (which was 0.3), and only if we rise to 10-point scales there was difference statistically significant (p=0.04). Nevertheless the researcher decided to stay with a 5-point scale and not rise to a 10-point scale as this would have involved significant more time consuming in answering the questions.
The use of Likert type scale assists in measuring the intervals of the respondents viewing intensity and therefore must have consistency. Those questions include the 5-point scale options of:
“Very Slight Failure” to “Very Severe Failure” (QA2)
“Not a problem” to “Very Serious Problem” (QA3)
“Extremely Dissatisfied” to “Extremely Satisfied” (QA4) and (QB4)
“Strongly Disagree” to “Strongly Agree” (QA6) and (QB5)
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“A Little” to “Extremely” (QB3)
Furthermore and according with De Vaus (2002) suggestion, in each of the 5- point Likert scale questions a “6th” option of “Don’t Know” was added to avoid
a forcing answer as some people of the sample may have a vague opinion and consequently end up in a result bias.
Question No 1 (Section A: AQ1)
This first question is an open-ended question as it gives the chance for the respondent to recall one recent service failure/problem that he or she had giving the opportunity to express in his own way and describe the problem as accurate as possible (Hussey and Hussey 1997). The advantages of an open- ended question is described above in the previous page and the choice of having this question first is to give at first the respondent the opportunity to describe the service failure he or she had (Hussey and Hussey 1997).
On the pilot test that question seem to be very clear as the respondents perceived directly what the question was asking heading directly to the core of the problem without facing any problem that consisted lack of clarity or of confusion about the respond. The only supplementary expression from the researcher was to specify even more clear the airline areas of where a service failure can occur and that was the service at the airport, the cabin of the aeroplane or problems with booking the tickets on-line (referring also to a potential poor airline web-design site).
Question No 2 (Section A: AQ2)
The second question is using the 5 point Likert-scale format and the additional option of “Don’t Know” as explained above (to alleviate bias in case of an uncertain position for the respondent to answer). Here the task for the researcher is to identify the degree of severity that the failure/problem had on the air-traveller. The 5 options vary from a “Very slight Failure” to “Very Severe Failure”.
Question No 3 (Section A: AQ3)
Similarly as the above question this question has a 5 point Likert-scale format and the task here for the researcher is to collect responses as to how critical was the service failure incident. This question is of great importance as it will allow showing the depth of the criticality as in particular serious problems that will have a further effect on the likelihood of the customer. The 5 options vary from “Extremely Dissatisfied” to “Extremely Satisfied”.
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This question again has a 5 point Likert-scale format with the task being the emotional aftermath of the service failure/problem ranging from an “Extremely Dissatisfied” view to an “Extremely Satisfied” option.
Question No 5 (Section A: AQ5)
This question is a closed one. It simply requires an answer of a “Yes” or a “No” but it is very important as it seeks to identify as to what extent the airline company knows about the service failure/problem or not.
Question No 6 (Section A: AQ6)
This is the last question of section A. Again here it has a 5 point Likert-scale format ranging from a “Strongly Disagree” to a “Strongly Agree” option and it actually follows the previous question to see through the expressions “ I don’t like complaining” and “I’m reluctant to complain even when service failure occurs” the tendency to complain or not.
Question No 7 (Section B: BQ1)
This question and the following four belong to Section B which seeks to find out how the Airline responded to the Service Failure. This one is an open question and has the same format as question 1. Here the intention is to seek if the airline staff responded on the first place and if yes to what extent.
Questions No 8 (Section B: BQ2)
This question involves a 5 point Likert-scale format with options of “Extremely Unsatisfied” to “Extremely Satisfied” and gives the choice of 16 recovery strategies to choose some or all of them.
Question No 9 (Section B: BQ3)
This question involves the emotions that an airline passenger felt after the service recovery by providing the option of five negative (Angry – Upset – Disappointed – Offended – Anxious) and five positive emotions (Calm – Contented – Pleased – Respected – Relaxed) on a 5 point Likert-scale (with options varying from “A Little” to “Extremely”) asking to select one or more of each of the aforementioned emotions.
Question No 10 (Section B: BQ4)
This question again uses a 5 point Likert-scale and tries to seek the level of airline’s service recovery to the problem. The options provided are from “Extremely Dissatisfied” to “Extremely Satisfied”.
Question No 11 (Section B: BQ5)
The last question of section B with a 5 point Likert-scale format tries to find the overall condition of the airline passenger after the service recovery of the
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particular problem that existed. It provides 14 choices whereas the respondent can choose one or more than one options.
Questions No 12-20 (Section C: CQ1-CQ9)
These question on this last Section C try to gather some information for the passenger such as Gender, Age group, purpose trip, nationality, current job, which airline did the trip, what service class he or she chose to fly, if it’s a domestic or international flight and if the passenger has already flew in the past or not and how many times.