JP2008021213A - Questionnaire device and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a questionnaire device for performing more accurate questionnaires, in comparison with the case that the present configuration is not provided. <P>SOLUTION: Check point questions and check point arrival conditions are preliminarily set by the investigator of questionnaires. When accepting answers to questions, a questionnaire program 4 refers to the check point arrival conditions and decides whether the check point arrival conditions are satisfied. When the check point arrival conditions are satisfied, the check point questions are selected as the next questions. When the check point arrival conditions are not satisfied, attributes as selection conditions are controlled based on the accumulated answers, and the questionnaire program 4 extracts keywords from questions and answers to the questions, and selects the questions as the candidates of the next questions from a question DB, based on the controlled attributes and the extracted keywords. The next questions are selected by the respondent of questionnaires, starting from the next question candidates. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a questionnaire apparatus that makes a plurality of questions to respondents.

  In general, respondents to a questionnaire are affected by their own psychological situation and habits and may not answer the questionnaire correctly. In this case, the answer is different from the original intention of the respondent. Therefore, the collected questionnaire may be inaccurate. On the other hand, in addition to obtaining a correct survey result, a survey organizer (also referred to as a surveyor) may wish to include a question that he / she always wants to answer in the survey.

  In Patent Document 1, a questionnaire is automatically created from a group of questions that match the respondent's attribute information, and a questionnaire that can collect detailed answers by transitioning to lower detailed questions according to the answers in each group of questions is created. A technique is disclosed.

JP 2004-287745 A

  An object of this invention is to provide the questionnaire apparatus which can implement a highly accurate questionnaire compared with the case where it does not have this structure.

  In order to achieve the above object, a questionnaire device according to the present invention includes a question storage unit that stores a plurality of questions, a selection condition reception unit that receives a condition for selecting a question, a question, an answer to the question, Based on the selection condition received by the selection condition reception means, the question selection means for selecting the next question from the questions stored in the question storage means, and the selection conditions used by the question selection means are controlled. Selection condition control means. According to the present invention, it is possible to carry out a more accurate questionnaire as compared with the case where the present configuration is not provided.

Preferably, the question storage means stores a question given an attribute, and the selection condition control means controls an attribute as a selection condition. According to the present invention, it is possible to select a question based on conditions set in advance with respect to attributes.
Preferably, the selection condition control means uses the attribute value as a selection condition when the number of answers to the question is smaller than a predetermined number for each attribute value. According to the present invention, it is possible to collect as many answers as necessary for tabulating the questionnaire.

Preferably, the selection condition control means uses the attribute value as a selection condition when the number of answers to the question is smaller than a predetermined number for each individual. According to the present invention, it is possible to create a personal profile with higher accuracy than in the case where the present configuration is not provided.
Preferably, the selection condition control means uses the attribute value as the selection condition when the number of answers to the question is smaller than a predetermined number in a group unit composed of a plurality of individuals. According to the present invention, it is possible to create a group profile with higher accuracy than in the case where the present configuration is not provided.

  In addition, the program according to the present invention includes a selection condition receiving step for receiving a condition for selecting a question, a question, an answer to the question, and the question in a questionnaire apparatus including a computer and a question storage unit that stores a plurality of questions. Based on the accepted selection condition, a question selection step for selecting the next question from the stored question, and a selection condition control step for controlling the selection condition used in the question selection, the questionnaire device To run on a computer.

  According to the questionnaire device of the present invention, it is possible to carry out a more accurate questionnaire as compared with the case where the present configuration is not provided.

First, in order to help understanding of the present invention, an outline of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a screen displayed by the questionnaire device according to the present invention. FIG. 1 (A) illustrates a question screen in a state where an answer is input, and FIG. A next question selection screen for selecting the next question is illustrated, and FIG. 1C illustrates a question screen next to the question shown in FIG.
As illustrated in FIG. 1A, the question screen includes a question, an answer input unit, and a determination button. The questionnaire is performed when the respondent reads the question, inputs the answer to the answer input unit, and presses the enter button. In this way, the questionnaire device according to the present invention collects answers to predetermined questions.

  When the answerer answers the question, as illustrated in FIG. 1B, the questionnaire device according to the present invention displays one or more next question candidates (candidate questions) on the screen. Here, the questionnaire device extracts keywords from the answered questions (“What do you want to eat?”) And the answers entered for the questions (“I want to eat miso ramen”), A question database (DB) is searched based on the keyword, and the searched question is displayed as a next question candidate. A plurality of questions are registered in the question DB in advance, and a plurality of keywords are set in advance for each of these questions.

  For example, the questionnaire device extracts “what you want to eat” from the question as keywords, and “miso ramen” and “want to eat” from the answers. Questionnaire devices, for example, “A famous store is lined up.”, “Why do you like miso ramen?” Is searched from the question DB.

  On the next question selection screen, selection means for selecting one question from a plurality of question candidates is displayed. For example, the selection means is realized by a radio button. When the respondent selects one question using the radio button, as illustrated in FIG. 1C, the questionnaire device according to the present invention displays the selected question on the screen as the next question, An answer to the question is accepted. The selection means may be realized by, for example, a pop-down menu, or may be realized by directly inputting a number assigned to each question.

  In the questionnaire device according to the present invention, selection conditions for selecting a question from the question DB are set in advance. The selection conditions include checkpoint questions (priority questions) and checkpoint arrival conditions. The checkpoint question is a question that the survey researcher wants the respondent to answer. The checkpoint arrival condition is a condition for making a checkpoint question. When the checkpoint arrival condition is satisfied, the questionnaire device according to the present invention searches for the checkpoint question from the question DB and displays it as the next question without searching for the next question candidate.

  The answers collected in this way are aggregated and used to create a profile of an individual or a group (also referred to as an organization, group, or group). Therefore, the answer needs to be sufficient to create a profile. The questionnaire device according to the present invention selects a question so as to obtain a missing answer to create a profile.

Hereinafter, the questionnaire device 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of the questionnaire device 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention, centering on the control device 12.
As shown in FIG. 2, the questionnaire device 10 includes a control device 12 including a CPU 14 and a memory 16, a communication device 18 that transmits and receives data to and from an external computer via a network, and a storage such as a hard disk drive. The apparatus 22 includes a display device such as a liquid crystal display and a user interface (UI) device 20 including a pointing device such as a keyboard and a mouse.

  The questionnaire device 10 is, for example, a general-purpose computer in which a questionnaire program 4 to be described later is installed, stores a plurality of questions, accepts conditions for selecting a question, and accepts the question, the answer to the question, and the received Based on the selection conditions, the next question is selected from the stored questions, and the selection conditions used in this question selection are controlled. The questionnaire device 10 may acquire answer data for the questionnaire via the keyboard and mouse of the UI device, or may function as a server to display a question and acquire response data via the communication device 18. May be.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of the questionnaire program 4 executed by the control device 12 of the questionnaire device 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 3, the questionnaire program 4 includes a user interface (UI) unit 40, a question registration unit 42, a question DB 44, a question selection unit 46, a question display unit 48, a question reception unit 50, a selection condition reception unit 52, and a selection. The condition storage unit 54, the answer reception unit 56, the answer DB 58, and the selection condition control unit 68 are included. The question selection unit 46 includes a question search unit 60, a keyword extraction unit 62, and a determination unit 64.

  The questionnaire program 4 is supplied to the control device 12 from an external computer connected to a network (not shown) via the communication device 18, loaded into the memory 16, and operated on the OS (not shown) operating on the control device 12. It is executed by specifically using hardware. Note that the questionnaire program 4 may be stored in a recording medium 24 such as FD, CD, or DVD and supplied to the questionnaire apparatus 10.

  In the questionnaire program 4, the UI unit 40 accepts an operation of an answerer or a researcher with respect to the UI device 20 and outputs it to each component of the questionnaire program 4. Furthermore, the UI unit 40 displays information / data created by each component of the questionnaire program 4 and the processing content of each component on the display device of the UI device 20. When the questionnaire device 10 transmits and receives data to and from an external computer via the communication device 18, the UI unit 40 performs a communication process required for communication with these computers.

The question DB 44 constitutes question storage means for storing a plurality of questions. The question DB 44 is realized by at least one of the memory 16 and the storage device 22. The questions stored in the question DB will be described in detail later.
The question registration unit 42 accepts a question input via the UI device 20 by a survey researcher or an administrator of the survey device 10 and registers it in the question DB 44. In addition, the question registration unit 42 receives update, deletion, etc. of the question via the UI device 20 and updates, deletes, etc., the question stored in the question DB 44. Note that the question registration unit 42 may accept registration, update, deletion, etc. of questions via the communication device 18.

  The answer DB 58 stores questions and answers of respondents to the questions. In addition, in each answer, information indicating by which individual the answer is answered is also stored. Note that organization information to which an individual belongs may be stored together with the personal information. The answer DB 58 is realized by the storage device 22 and the like, similar to the question DB 44. The answer accepting unit 56 accepts an answer input by the respondent using the UI device 20 via the UI unit 40 and stores it in the answer DB 58.

The selection condition receiving unit 52 receives a condition (selection condition) for selecting a question via the UI device 20 and stores it in the selection condition storage unit 54. Note that the selection condition receiving unit 52 may receive a selection condition via the communication device 18. The selection conditions will be described later in detail.
The selection condition storage unit 54 stores the selection condition received by the selection condition reception unit 52. The selection condition is controlled by the selection condition control unit 68 as will be described later. The selection condition storage unit 54 is realized by the storage device 22 and the like, similarly to the question DB 44.

  The selection condition control unit 68 controls selection conditions used by the question selection unit 46 described later. That is, the selection condition control unit 68 controls the selection conditions stored in the selection condition storage unit 54. Specifically, the selection condition control unit 68 refers to the answer DB 58 and controls the selection conditions so that the answers are accumulated to a degree sufficient to create an individual or group profile. The selection condition control process will be described later in detail.

  The question selection unit 46 selects the next question from the questions stored in the question DB 44 based on the question, the answer to the question, and the selection condition received by the selection condition reception unit 52. More specifically, the question selection unit 46 selects a checkpoint question from the question DB 44 as the next question when a later-described checkpoint arrival condition is satisfied, and if not, a keyword is selected from the question and the answer to the question. And the next question candidate is searched from the question DB 44 as the next question based on the keyword.

  In the question selection unit 46, the determination unit 64 refers to the checkpoint arrival condition stored in the selection condition storage unit 54 and determines whether the checkpoint arrival condition is satisfied. When the determination unit 64 determines that the checkpoint arrival condition is not satisfied, the keyword extraction unit 62 extracts a keyword from the question and the answer to the question. The question search unit 60 searches for questions from the question DB 44 based on the keywords extracted by the keyword extraction unit 62. The question selection process by the question selection unit 46 will be described in detail later.

  The question display unit 48 displays the question selected by the question selection unit 46 on the UI device 20. Specifically, the question display unit 48 displays candidate questions or checkpoint questions searched by the question search unit 60. When displaying a plurality of candidate questions as the next question candidate, the question display unit 48 controls the display order of the next question candidate based on the number of times the question is selected from the candidate questions. For example, the question display unit 48 displays the next question candidates in descending order of the number of selections.

  The question receiving unit 50 receives a question selected by a respondent from a plurality of candidate questions via the UI device 20 and outputs it to the question selecting unit 46. In this case, the question selection unit 46 sets the question received from the question reception unit 50 as the next question, searches for the next question from the question DB 44, and the question display unit 48 sends the searched question to the UI device 20. indicate.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating questions stored in the question DB 44.
As illustrated in FIG. 4, each question data includes a question identifier (ID), a question sentence, an attribute, and a keyword. The question ID is a character string made up of, for example, alphanumeric characters for uniquely identifying the question. The question sentence indicates the content of the question. The question sentence may be assigned not only a sentence but also image data and voice data as a question. The attribute indicates a category classified based on a situation in which a question is asked, for example, selection, eating and drinking, eating, before entering a store, product selection, and the like. The keyword is one or more words related to the question and is used as a key when being searched. Such a question is registered in the question DB 44 by the question registration unit 42 and searched and selected by the question selection unit 46.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the structure of a questionnaire made by the questionnaire apparatus 10 and the selection conditions stored in the selection condition storage unit 54. FIG. 5A shows the structure of the questionnaire, and FIG. ) And FIG. 5C illustrate selection conditions.
As shown in FIG. 5A, the questionnaire includes one or more processes, and the process includes a plurality of questions. The process is terminated when a predetermined condition is satisfied, and the next process is started. When the last process ends, the questionnaire ends.

  The selection condition is set for each process. A survey researcher inputs selection conditions using the UI device 20 or the like in order to collect survey data. The selection condition reception unit 52 of the questionnaire program 4 includes, as selection conditions, a checkpoint question (priority question), a checkpoint arrival condition (priority question selection condition) for selecting the checkpoint question from the question DB 44, and the checkpoint A search condition for searching for a question stored in the question DB 44 when the reaching condition is not satisfied is received.

  As illustrated in FIGS. 5B and 5C, the selection conditions include the maximum number of questions, the search conditions, the checkpoint arrival conditions, and the checkpoint questions. The maximum number of questions is the maximum number of questions made in the process. The search condition includes an attribute and a keyword. The attribute in the search condition is an attribute for selecting a question in the process. This attribute is dynamically changed by the selection condition control unit 68 of the questionnaire program 4. The question search unit 60 of the question selection unit 46 refers to the attribute controlled by the selection condition control unit 68 and searches for a candidate question based on the attribute. Specifically, the question search unit 60 searches the question DB 44 for a question for which the attribute is set.

  The keyword in the search condition is a keyword for selecting a question in the process. For example, the keyword is set as “include all store selection, outside store, and restaurant business”. In this case, a question in which all of the search condition keywords are set is searched in the process. Specifically, the question search unit 60 refers to a keyword that is a process search condition, extracts a keyword from the question and an answer to the question, and based on the referenced keyword and the extracted keyword, the question DB 44. Search for questions from.

  For example, the question search unit 60 is a question in which an attribute as a selection condition is set, and a keyword that is a process search condition and at least one of a keyword extracted from a question and an answer to the question is a keyword. Search for questions set as. The question search unit 60 may search for a question in which all of the keywords extracted from the process search conditions and questions are set.

  The checkpoint arrival condition is determined by the determination unit 64 of the question selection unit 46. For example, when the checkpoint arrival condition is set to “answer two questions about the attribute“ selection ”, when the answers to two questions with“ selection ”set as the attribute are obtained, the determination unit 64 It is determined that the checkpoint arrival condition is satisfied. When the determination unit 64 determines that the checkpoint arrival condition is satisfied, the question search unit 60 searches the question DB 44 for a question set as a checkpoint question. Therefore, in this case, the question selection unit 46 selects a checkpoint question as the next question. For example, as shown in FIG. 5B, the checkpoint question is a question whose question ID is Q00114 in the process 1.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining selection condition control processing by the selection condition control unit 68 of the questionnaire program 4.
As shown in FIG. 6, the attribute as the search condition is controlled by the selection condition control unit 68 based on at least one of the predetermined number of required personal answers and the required number of group answers. When the number of answers to the question is smaller than the number determined in advance for each attribute value (the number of required individual answers, the number of required answers for the group), the selection condition control unit 68 sets the attribute value as the selection condition. Here, the number of individual required answers is a predetermined number for each individual, and the number of required group answers is a predetermined number for each group (group) composed of a plurality of individuals.

  Therefore, the selection condition control unit 68 sets the attribute value as the selection condition when the number of answers to the question is smaller than the individual required answer number, and sets the attribute value as the selection condition when the number of answers to the question is smaller than the group required answer number. To do. The number of required personal answers and the number of required group answers are set for each attribute value, for example, for each process. It should be noted that at least one of the required individual answers and the required group answers may be set in advance.

  In the case of this example, the number of responses for the attributes “before entering the store”, “eat”, and “return” satisfies the number of required personal answers and the number of required group answers. On the other hand, the number of answers for the attribute “product selection” is smaller than the number of individual required answers and the number of group required answers. Therefore, in this case, the selection condition control unit 68 selects the attribute “product selection” as the attribute as the search condition.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the questionnaire process (S10) by the questionnaire program 4.
As shown in FIG. 7, in step 100 (S100), the question search unit 60 of the question selection unit 46 refers to the selection condition stored in the selection condition storage unit 54 and based on the search condition set in the process. The question DB 44 is searched to select a question. The question selection unit 46 outputs the searched question to the question display unit 48. The selection conditions are input in advance into the questionnaire device 10 by a survey researcher, received by the selection condition receiving unit 52, and stored in the selection condition storage unit 54.

In step 102 (S102), the question display unit 48 displays a question screen including the question and the answer input unit on the UI device 20.
In step 104 (S104), when the respondent inputs an answer, the answer accepting unit 56 accepts the answer input via the UI device 20.
In step 106 (S106), the answer accepting unit 56 stores the accepted answer in the answer DB 58. In this way, the answers are accumulated in the answer DB 58.

  In step 108 (S108), the determination unit 64 of the question selection unit 46 refers to the checkpoint arrival condition stored in the selection condition storage unit 54 and determines whether the checkpoint arrival condition is satisfied. For example, the determination unit 64 determines whether two questions with the attribute “selection” have been answered. When it is determined that the checkpoint arrival condition is satisfied, the question selection unit 46 proceeds to the process of S120. Otherwise, the question selection unit 46 proceeds to the process of S110.

In step 110 (S110), the selection condition control unit 68 refers to the answer DB 58 and controls the attribute as the selection condition based on the number of answers to the question and at least one of the required individual answer and the required group answer. To do.
In step 112 (S112), the keyword extraction unit 62 of the question selection unit 46 refers to the answer DB 58 and extracts a keyword from the question and the answer to the question.
In step 114 (S114), the question search unit 60 searches the question DB 44 based on the attributes controlled by the selection condition control unit 68 and the keywords extracted by the keyword extraction unit 62. For example, the question search unit 60 is a question in which the search condition (controlled attribute) stored in the selection condition storage unit 54 is set, and at least one of the extracted keywords is set as a keyword. The question is searched from the question DB 44.

In step 116 (S116), the question selection unit 46 outputs the question searched by the question search unit 60 to the question display unit 48. The question display unit 48 uses the searched question as a next question candidate, for example. Selection means (for example, radio buttons) for selecting the next question candidate and the next question is displayed in descending order of the number of times selected by the respondent in the past.
In step 118 (S118), when the respondent selects the next question from the next question candidates, the question receiving unit 50 receives the selected question and outputs it to the question selecting unit 46. The question selection unit 46 outputs the accepted question to the question display unit 48 as the next question. Thereafter, the questionnaire program 4 returns to the process of S102.

On the other hand, when it is determined that the checkpoint arrival condition is satisfied, in step 120 (S120), the question search unit 60 of the question selection unit 46 searches the question DB 44 for a checkpoint question. The question selection unit 46 outputs the checkpoint question to the question display unit 48, and the question display unit 48 displays a question screen including the UI device 20 and the answer input unit on the UI device 20. To do.
In step 122 (S122), when the respondent inputs an answer to the checkpoint question, the answer accepting unit 56 accepts the inputted answer and stores it in the answer DB 58. In this way, multiple questions are asked in one process.

  In step 124 (S124), the question selection unit 46 determines whether all processes included in the questionnaire have been completed. When all the processes are finished, the questionnaire program 4 finishes the process. Otherwise, the process shifts to the next process, and the questionnaire program 4 returns to the process of S102. Note that one process may end when the checkpoint arrival condition is satisfied, or when the maximum number of questions has been made, as long as the required individual answers and the required group answers are satisfied. May be. In this way, all processes included in the questionnaire are executed.

  In addition, the questionnaire apparatus 10 may be implement | achieved as a general purpose personal computer, and may be implement | achieved as a server. When the questionnaire apparatus 10 is realized as a server, a question and an answer to the question are transmitted and received between the questionnaire apparatus 10 and a client used by the respondent via the network. The questionnaire device 10 may include a control device and may be realized as so-called electronic paper (also referred to as e-Paper) on which the questionnaire program 4 operates. In this case, the questionnaire process by the questionnaire program 4 is executed when the respondent inputs an answer to the electronic paper.

  The questionnaire device 10 may be realized as a question answering device in sales promotion. In this case, the sales representative (respondent) inputs the customer's request, sales status, product, etc. in the sales scene as an answer. In addition, a response corresponding to the answer is displayed as a question on the screen.

It is a figure which illustrates the screen displayed by the questionnaire apparatus based on this invention, Comprising: FIG. 1 (A) illustrates the question screen of the state in which the answer was input, FIG. 1 (B) shows the next question. The next question selection screen to select is illustrated, and the question screen next to the question shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of the questionnaire apparatus 10 which concerns on embodiment of this invention centering on the control apparatus 12. FIG. It is a figure which shows the function structure of the questionnaire program 4 performed by the control apparatus 12 of the questionnaire apparatus 10 which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which illustrates the question memorized by question DB44. It is a figure explaining the structure of the questionnaire made by the questionnaire apparatus 10, and the selection conditions memorize | stored by the selection condition memory | storage part 54, FIG. 5 (A) shows the structure of a questionnaire, FIG.5 (B) and FIG. (C) illustrates selection conditions. It is a figure explaining the selection condition control process by the selection condition control part 68 of the questionnaire program 4. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the questionnaire process (S10) by the questionnaire program 4. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

4 Questionnaire Program 10 Questionnaire Device 12 Control Device 14 CPU
16 Memory 18 Communication device 20 UI device 22 Storage device 40 UI unit 42 Question registration unit 44 Question DB
46 Question selection unit 48 Question display unit 50 Question reception unit 52 Selection condition reception unit 54 Selection condition storage unit 56 Answer reception unit 58 Answer DB
60 Question Search Unit 62 Keyword Extraction Unit 64 Determination Unit 68 Selection Condition Control Unit

Claims (6)

Question storage means for storing a plurality of questions;
A selection condition receiving means for receiving a condition for selecting a question;
A question selection means for selecting the next question from the questions stored by the question storage means based on the question, the answer to the question and the selection condition received by the selection condition reception means;
A questionnaire apparatus comprising: selection condition control means for controlling selection conditions used by the question selection means. The question storage means stores a question given an attribute,
The questionnaire apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the selection condition control unit controls an attribute as a selection condition. The questionnaire device according to claim 2, wherein the selection condition control unit uses the attribute value as a selection condition when the number of answers to the question is smaller than a predetermined number for each attribute value. The questionnaire apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the selection condition control means uses the attribute value as a selection condition when the number of answers to the question is smaller than a predetermined number for each individual. The questionnaire apparatus according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the selection condition control means uses the attribute value as a selection condition when the number of answers to the question is smaller than a predetermined number in units of groups of a plurality of individuals. In a questionnaire apparatus including a computer and question storage means for storing a plurality of questions,
A selection condition reception step for receiving a condition for selecting a question;
A question selection step of selecting a next question from the stored questions based on a question, an answer to the question, and the accepted selection condition;
A program for causing a computer of the questionnaire apparatus to execute a selection condition control step for controlling a selection condition used in the question selection.

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