The results of the pretest indicate that there are no issues with the question, so it can be left in its current form.
General Probing, Specific Probing, Category-Selection Probing, Emergent Probing
Information on the aim and purpose of the test:
This question is intended to determine whether respondents use an e-bike or pedelec for the majority of their daily bike trips. Accordingly, Question 4 is asked only of those respondents who indicate in Question 3 that they use a bicycle for daily routes at least one day per week.
As part of the testing, the study aimed to determine what types of electric bicycles the test participants had in mind, particularly whether cargo bikes were also considered. In addition, the reasons for selecting the “Don’t know” category were examined. Finally, the study investigated whether the test participants were referring to the frequencies indicated in Question 3.
Findings:
Based on their answers to Question 3, only three participants (TP06, 08, 10) were asked Question 4. In all cases, the participants’ explanations matched their answers to the survey question. For example, one participant explained that they did not own an electric bicycle at all and checked “No” accordingly.
“As I said, I don’t have one, and I don’t have any plans to [buy one] right now. As long as I’m in good shape, I’ll keep riding without an e-bike. And no pedelec either—I’m not interested in that at all. I prefer riding a regular bike and getting some exercise.” (TP10, Answer: No)
Test person 08, on the other hand, explained that she owned only an e-bike and had thought exclusively of that when answering both Question 3 and Question 4. She also explained that it had only occurred to her while answering this question that one could have distinguished between regular bicycles and those with electric motors. However, she had not done so.
The situation was different for Test person 06, who owns both a traditional bicycle and an electrically assisted cargo bike and uses both in everyday life, albeit with varying frequency. When answering Question 3, she had thought exclusively of her traditional bicycle. Furthermore, she initially had difficulty answering Question 4:
“Yes, no, I don’t know. I’d like to answer ‘yes and no.’ Well, of course I know. I’ve ridden my e-bike now and then, but most of the time I haven’t. In that sense, I’d say probably ‘I don’t know.’ But I actually already know. I think it’s ‘no.’ I’d lean toward ‘No’ right now, because I’ve probably ridden an e-bike 20% of the time and without one 80% of the time. That’s the majority of my daily commute. Exactly, that’s why I’d go with ‘No.’ But I think it would be more helpful if there were maybe another way to indicate the proportion.” (TP06)
