Part 2: Quantitative data collection

In a research project, you have been asked to examine the impact of managers demographic characteristics on their choice of initiating compulsory redundancy during the pandemic. You will read the literature to see if there is any theory explaining the relationship between managerial characteristics and firm strategic decisions. You find Upper Echelon Theory by Hambrick and Mason (1984). You find the following graph in Hambrick and Mason (1984) and you think this conceptual framework can help you when collecting the data.

You decide you want to collect primary data using a questionnaire. To be able to conduct this research, what questions do you include in your questionnaire?

You need to consider the following points when designing your questionnaire:

1. The questionnaire must contain only 4 questions. A high-quality questionnaire contains questions that are directly related to the topic under investigation (you receive no mark for less relevant questions). Each question can contain one or several related sub-questions or statements (maximum of 4 sub-questions or statement) to construct a measure.
2. A high-quality questionnaire consists of questions that leads to quantifiable measures; therefore, using open-ended questions is not advised.
3. You need to choose between binary, ordinal, categorical and numeric variables. An excellent questionnaire frames the questions in a way to have the most appropriate variable type as output. For example, one student might ask about the intensity of employee downsizing using a question that employs Likert rating, another student might ask a yes or no question to examine whether the firm had announced employee downsizing. While the two questions are related to downsizing, the first one is preferred as it provides more information about downsizing