Tutorial: Designing a Loyalty-Card Consumer Survey: Listening Answers & Explanations
IELTS Listening practice test · 9 questionsPart 3medium
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About this recording
The recording opens: “Right, Priya, Marco, take a seat. So this is your dissertation on supermarket loyalty cards.”
- Transcript length: about 462 words
- Questions: 9
- Question types: Multiple Choice, Multiple Choice — Multiple Answers, Matching Features, Sentence Completion
“Tutorial: Designing a Loyalty-Card Consumer Survey” is an original IELTS-style practice recording written by IELTS-Bank. It is not taken from an official IELTS or Cambridge test, so these answers only apply to our version.
Answer key at a glance
Tutorial: Designing a Loyalty-Card Consumer Survey answers with explanations
Question 1: Multiple Choice
Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.
What is the central question of the students' dissertation?
- A. whether loyalty cards increase total spending
- B. whether loyalty cards change where people shop
- C. whether loyalty cards are worth their cost to shops
- 1
The dissertation now focuses on
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Answer: B — whether loyalty cards change where people shop
Why: The passage states that the students have narrowed their research question to investigate if loyalty cards influence where people shop, rather than how much they spend overall.
What you hear · Transcript, paragraph 2 (Priya) “We now want to find out whether the cards change where people shop, rather than how much they spend overall.”
Question 2: Multiple Choice
Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.
Why do the students think their topic fills a gap?
- A. No one has measured spending totals before.
- B. Few studies ask whether a card keeps customers from rivals.
- C. Loyalty cards have only recently been introduced.
- 2
According to Marco, the gap in the research is that
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Answer: B — Few studies ask whether a card keeps customers from rivals.
Why: Marco believes their research fills a gap because most studies focus on spending totals, while few investigate if loyalty cards prevent customers from shopping at rival stores, which is the aspect they aim to explore.
What you hear · Transcript, paragraph 3 (Marco) “Almost nobody has asked whether a card actually stops customers going to a rival shop.”
Question 3: Multiple Choice — Multiple Answers
Choose TWO letters, A–E.
Which TWO problems did the pilot survey reveal?
- A. The questionnaire was too long.
- B. The software kept crashing.
- C. Some questions were leading.
- D. There were too few questions.
- E. The forms were printed incorrectly.
- 3
Two problems with the pilot survey
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Answer: A — The questionnaire was too long.; C — Some questions were leading.
Why: The pilot survey revealed that the questionnaire was too long, causing participants to stop halfway, and some questions were leading, which could bias the results, as mentioned by Priya and Marco.
What you hear · Transcript, paragraph 4 (Dr Bennett) “Now, you ran a small pilot survey last month, didn't you?”
Questions 4–6: Matching Features
Who will take responsibility for each task?
Choose your answer from the list of people A–C and select the correct letter for each task. You may choose any letter more than once.
- A. Priya
- B. Marco
- C. Dr Bennett
- 4
approaching shoppers and collecting forms
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Answer: B — Marco
Why: Marco is responsible for the fieldwork, which includes going into stores, approaching shoppers, and collecting completed forms, as he enjoys talking to strangers.
What you hear · Transcript, paragraph 10 (Marco) “I'm happy to handle the fieldwork — going into the stores, approaching shoppers, collecting the completed forms.”
- 5
entering and analysing the data
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Answer: A — Priya
Why: Priya is responsible for entering and analysing the data, as she states, "I'll take responsibility for entering all the data and running it through the software," indicating her role in handling the data.
What you hear · Transcript, paragraph 11 (Priya) “And I'll take responsibility for entering all the data and running it through the software.”
- 6
framing the literature review
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Answer: C — Dr Bennett
Why: Dr Bennett is responsible for framing the literature review, as he mentions pulling together a reading list and shaping that section with Priya and Marco.
What you hear · Transcript, paragraph 13 (Dr Bennett) “Leave the framing of the literature review to me for now — I'll pull together a reading list and we can shape that section together.”
Questions 7–9: Sentence Completion
Complete the sentences below.
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.
- 7
To fix the sampling problem, they will survey at weekends and in the ______.(max 1 word)
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Answer: evenings (also accepted: evening)
Why: The answer is found when Dr Bennett advises Priya and Marco to conduct surveys on weekends and during the evenings to include people who work full-time, addressing the issue of a non-representative sample.
What you hear · Transcript, paragraph 9 (Dr Bennett) “Survey on weekends and in the evenings as well, so you capture people who work full-time.”
- 8
The main survey is planned to begin on the ______ of March.(max 1 word)
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Answer: fifteenth (also accepted: 15th / 15)
Why: Priya mentions that if they finalize the questionnaire within the week, they can start the main survey on March 15th and aim to complete it within a month.
What you hear · Transcript, paragraph 14 (Priya) “If we finalise the questionnaire this week, we could begin the main survey on the fifteenth of March and aim to finish within a month.”
- 9
Before answering, every participant must sign a ______ form.(max 1 word)
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Answer: consent
Why: The answer is found when Dr Bennett emphasizes the importance of participants signing a consent form before answering, highlighting that the ethics committee requires this step to be strictly followed.
What you hear · Transcript, paragraph 15 (Dr Bennett) “One last thing — make sure every participant signs a consent form before they answer.”
Estimated band score for this test
Your raw score out of 9 scaled to the 40-question IELTS Listening conversion table. This is the same estimate the practice page shows after you submit. A single recording is a small sample, so treat it as a guide.
| Correct answers | Estimated band |
|---|---|
| 9 / 9 | 9.0 |
| 8 / 9 | 8.0 |
| 7 / 9 | 7.0 |
| 6 / 9 | 6.5 |
| 4–5 / 9 | 5.5 |
| 3 / 9 | 4.5 |
| 2 / 9 | 3.5 |
| 1 / 9 | 2.5 |
| 0 / 9 | 0.0 |
Full-test score? Use the IELTS band calculator.
Tips for the question types in this test
Listening Part 3
- Before the audio, read the questions and note whose view each one asks about — "What does Marta think…" is answered by Marta’s words, not her tutor’s.
- Learn the voices in the first few seconds: names are always exchanged early, and attaching name to voice immediately pays off for the whole part.
Common trap: Attributing one speaker’s opinion to another, especially when a speaker summarises someone else’s view before disagreeing with it.
Full Listening Part 3 strategyPractise “Tutorial: Designing a Loyalty-Card Consumer Survey” under exam conditions
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