The questionnaire was divided into three parts. The first part included the respondents' demographics, such as age, gender, and educational level. The second part included the respondents' general knowledge about the common cold, such as causes of the common cold, its management and methods of transmitting the common cold. The third section addressed the respondents' practices for managing the common cold. The questions addressed the steps that patients usually take to manage the common cold, the steps patients take if symptoms of the common cold continue for more than seven days, and how respondents respond upon interacting with those suffering from the common cold. Answers were designed to be either Yes/No or multiple choice. It is believed that close-ended questions are much easier for respondents to answer and lead to a higher response rate.
Data collection procedure
Researchers met with respondents in public areas in the city of Taif. They started by introducing themselves to the respondents and then informed them that no findings that could be used to identify them would be published and that all information would be kept confidential. Researchers gave the questionnaire to those who agreed to participate in the study. The questionnaire took no more than 10 min to complete.
Inclusion criteria
Members of the general public above the age of 16 and able to read and write in Arabic were included in this study.
Exclusion criteria
Any respondent who was under the age of 16, who was unable to read and write in Arabic, or who refused to participate in this study was excluded from this study.
Data collection areas
Data were collected from the general public in public areas such as shopping malls, restaurants and health centres.
Data analysis
Descriptive analyses such as frequencies, percentages and graphs were used to describe the findings of this study, whereas the Chi square test was used to compare the results with different demographic variables of the respondents such as age, marital status and education. A 95% significance level was used in data analysis, and any alpha value of less than 0.05% was considered significant. Data obtained from this survey were coded, entered and then analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 22.0. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp.