GoalsandObjectives:

WewereapproachedbyJohnMcDonald,alocaldeveloperandbusinessowner,whois
planningondevelopinganewbuildingfacilitynearSkidsrestaurant.Abusinessthatisunder
considerationtobeputinthebuildingforstudentsuseisCompanyShopsMarket(TheCoop).
CompanyShopsMarketisacoopgrocerystorethatoffersallnaturalorganicproduce,meat
anddairy,aswellasgrabandgofoodsuchasfreshmadesandwiches,pastriesandahot
bar.OurgoalistoseeifstudentswouldutilizeanoncampusCompanyShopsMarketlocation,
overfoodoutletsthatarealreadyavailabletothem.Beyondthatweneedtofindoutifstudents
wouldusethemultiplefacetsofthecoopincludingthegrocerystoresectionandthegraband
gosection.Also,arestudentsinterestedandwillingtospendmoremoneyonlocallyproduced
organicproductsoverotherstorebrands.Themain,overarching,researchobjectivethatwe
aregoingtoanswerisifElonstudentswouldfrequentagrocerystorelocatedclosetocampus,
andwhatcharacteristicstheywouldlookforinthepotentialgrocerystore.Inconjunctionwith
theresearchobjectivethesearetheresearchquestionsourteamishopingtoachieve.Allof
theresearchquestionslendahandinhelpingusdetermineifourhypothesesaretrueorfalse.
Wearealsoabletocrosstabourresearchquestionstohelpusdevelopinsightsintoconcerns
andquestionsthatthedeveloperofthepotentialgrocerystorehad.
1. Wouldstudentsfrequentagrocerystorenearcampus,consideringtheotherfood
outlets.
Thisquestionhelpsusasateam,first,todetermineifstudentswouldbeinterestedin
havingagrocerystorenearcampusconsideringalloftheotherfoodoptionsthatalreadyexist.
Itisnotonlyimportantthatweseeifstudentswantagrocerystorenearcampus,likequestion
3,butthatwealsoaddressiftheywouldshopatagrocerystoreforfoodoverotherfoodoutlets.

2. Wouldstudentspaymoreforlocallyproduceditems?
ThisquestionistodirectlyaddressiftheCompanyMarketwouldbeasuccessful
businesstoaddtoElonsdowntownarea.SinceCompanyMarketisagrocerystorethatvalues
sellinglocallyproduceditems,itisimportanttoseeifstudentswouldbewillingtopayextrafor
itsproducts.
3. Dostudentsthinkweneedagrocerystoreoncampus?
Thisquestionisimportantbecauseitisgoingtohelpusansweracrucialparttoour
hypothesis,whichiswhetherstudentswouldshopatagrocerystorelocationmoreconvenient
tocampus.
4. Wouldstudentsthatliveoncampusbemorelikelytogotoagroceryinwalking
distancefromcampus?
Thisquestionwillsimplyhelpusdeterminehowmanystudentsthatliveoncampus
wouldusethegrocerystorebecauseofitsconvenience.Wewantedtoseeifitisbeneficialfor
underclassman,asatargetaudience,astheyaremorelikelyinneedofawalkingdistance
grocerystore,overupperclassmanwholiveoffcampus.
5. Outofthefollowinggrocerystores(listgrocerystores),whichonewouldyou
prefertobeonElonscampus.
Thisquestionisnecessarytodeterminewhetherstudentsoncampushaveagrocery
storethattheyareloyalto.Itwillhelpusdeterminewherestudentsaremorepronetogettheir
groceries.

6. Woulditbebeneficialforstudentsifthegrocerystoreofferedgrabandgofood
andgroceryshopping?

Thisquestionisdesignedtogomoreindepthintowhatservicesstudentswantthis
potentialgrocerystoretohave.Wewanttobeabletogivetheclientconstructivefeedback
aboutwhatthegrocerystoreshouldoffertostudentstomakeitthemostsuccessful.
7. Wouldupperclassmenbemorelikelytoshopataoncampusgrocerystore?
Thisquestionbouncesoffofquestion4.Thisisaddressingwhetherupperclassman
wouldbemorelikelytoshopatanoncampusgrocerystore.Wewanttoknowwhether
upperclassmanwouldchoosetheirgrocerystorebasedonwhatitsbrandorofitsconvenience.
8. Ifstudentshaveamealplan,willtheybelesslikelytoshopatanoncampus
grocerystore?
Thisquestionisimportanttoourstudyinordertounderstandhowmoststudentspayfor
theirfoodduringtheschoolyear.Wewanttoknowhowmanystudentssticktomealplansand
howmanystudentsgetfoodatotherlocations.Wealsowanttoknowhowmanypeoplewanta
grocerystore,butwouldntuseitbecausetheywerestrictlyonamealplan.
9. Arefemalesmorelikelytoshopatanoncampusgrocerystore?
ThisquestionisstrictlybasedoffofdemographicsatElon.SinceElonsstudentbodyis
madeupof60%femalesand40%males,itisinterestingtoseeifthemorepopulargenderon
campuswouldbemorelikelytoutilizeanoncampusgrocerystore.
10. Wouldstudentsutilizeagrocerystoreinwalkingdistancefromcampus.
Thisquestionencompassesallstudentsandwillhelpourteamdeterminewhether
studentswouldtrulyvaluetheeditionofagrocerystoreoncampusoveranyother
establishment.
Hypothesis:
1.

Iftherewasagrocerystorelocatedoncampus,thenoncampusstudentswouldshop
there.

2.

Ifthereisagrocerystoreconvenientlylocatedclosetocampus,thenstudentswill
choosetoshopthereoverothergrocerystoresinBurlington.

Methodology:

Inregardstoourmethodology,wedecidedtouseanonlinesurvey,sincethiswouldbe
easyforourgrouptoexecutewithourlimitedtimeframeandresources.Wewereabletouse
thebasicversionofSurveyMonkey,withthisfreeversiongivingusenoughquestionsto
achieveouroverallgoals.Wecreatedtensurveyquestions,usingavarietyofquestiontypes,
inordertosurveyElonstudentsabouttheirthoughtsonapotentialnewgrocerystorelocation
oncampus.
Todistributeoursurvey,wedecidedtopostthelinkonourFacebookpages.Weposted
thelinkasastatusontwoofourFacebookwalls,andquicklygotthemaximumnumberof
replies,whichwas100.108peopleactuallytookthesurveybeforewehadtheopportunityto
closethesurveyafterreachingthemaximum.SinceitwasonlypostedonourFacebookwalls,
thislimitedthenumberofpeoplewhohadtheopportunitytoparticipateinthesurvey.This
convenienceandnonprobabilitysamplewasthelogicalchoiceofmethodologyforthisreport.
LookingatthenumberofFacebookfriendsthathadtheopportunitytoseethelinktothe
survey,wedeterminedtherewereatotalof2,971peoplewhoitreached.Outofthosefriends,
weestimatethatapproximately1,400areElonstudentsthatthesurveypertainedto.Sincewe
had100responsestothepostedlink,ourresponseratewas7.14%.Oursamplingerrorwas
plusorminus9.8%withaconfidenceintervalof95%,withsamplesizebeing100.
Whenwepostedthesurvey,weincludedthelinktotheactualsurveyandsomewordsto
encouragepeopletotakethesurvey.Onestatuswas,Hi,Elonpeople!Pleasebemyfriend
andtakemysurvey,please.Youknowyousecretlylovethesethings.Thesecondstatuswas,


ELONSTUDENTS:Pleasetakethissurveyformylovelyresearchclass!Itwilltakeyouless
than5minutesandwillbegreatlyappreciated
.Bothofthesestatusesarticulatedthatthe
userswantedpeoplewhoattendElontotakethesurvey,whichwouldhelptheresponsestobe
accuratelyrepresentativeofourtargetmarket.

1. Wouldstudentstofrequentagrocerystorenearcampus,consideringtheother
foodoutlets.
2. Wouldstudentspaymoreforlocallyproduceditems?
3. Dostudentsthinkweneedagrocerystoreoncampus?
4. Wouldstudentsthatliveoncampusbemorelikelytogotoagroceryinwalking
distancefromcampus?
5. WhichgrocerystoreswouldstudentsprefertobeonElonscampus?
6. Woulditbebeneficialforstudentsifthegrocerystoreofferedgrabandgofood
andgroceryshopping?
7. Wouldupperclassmenbemorelikelytoshopataoncampusgrocerystore?
8. Ifstudentshaveamealplan,willtheybelesslikelytoshopatanoncampus
grocerystore?
9. Arefemalesmorelikelytoshopatanoncampusgrocerystore?
10. Wouldstudentsutilizeagrocerystoreinwalkingdistancefromcampus.

SurveyQuestionnaire

SQ1.

Thisquestionhelpsusoperationalizeresearchquestion#3,Dostudentsthinkweneeda
grocerystoreoncampus?Itiscrucialthatweaskthisbasicquestiontogetasenseif
students,rangingfromallgrades,wouldbeinterestedinagrocerystorelocatedcloseto
campus.
SQ2.

Thisquestionhelpsusoperationalizeresearchquestionnumber5byprovidinginsightinto
whatgrocerystorestudentswouldprefertobeonElonscampus.Ifstudentsareloyalto
certaingrocerystoresoverothers,theymightbemorewillingtotraveltotheirgrocerystoreof
choiceratherthangotoagrocerystorebasedonconvenience.Thisquestioncanbe
crosstabbedwithsurveyquestion9todeterminewhatclassyearspreferwhichgrocery
stores.

SQ3.

Thisrankingsystemshowsstudentspreferenceonwheretheyprefertogetfood.It
operationalizesresearchquestionnumber1,Wouldstudentsfrequentagrocerystorenear
campus,consideringtheotherfoodoutlets.Bystudentsrankingtheseoptions,webeableto
determinehowlikelystudentswillbetouseagrocerystoretopurchasefoodandmeals.
SQ4.

Thissurveyquestionistooperationalizeresearchquestion6.Wedevelopedthisquestion
basedoffofaconcernthattheclientstatedontheirclientdescriptionoverview.Theyasked
whatservicesthegrocerystoreshouldofferifoneweretobelocatedoncampus.They
mentionedofferingagrabandgoserviceforstudents.Inordertoseewhatthatwouldentail
themsellingandifitwouldbesuccessful,weincludedthisquestiontogetdetaileddataon
whatstudentswouldusethegrocerystorefor.

SQ5.

Thisquestionhelpsusoperationalizeresearchquestionnumber4,
Wouldstudentsthatlive
oncampusbemorelikelytogotoagroceryinwalkingdistancefromcampus?This
questioncanbecrosstabbedwithsurveyquestionnumbereighttodeterminewhatstudents
thatliveoncampusfeelstronglythatweneedagrocerystorelocationinwalkingdistance
fromcampus
.
Thisalsodirectlylinkstooneofourhypotheses.
SQ6.

Surveyquestion6operationalizesresearchquestion8bydeterminingwhichmethodof
paymentstudentsusethemostduringtheschoolyear.Thisisimportanttoourstudy
becausethiswillhelpusdetermineifstudentsstayloyaltotheirfoodplanduringtheyear.If
themajorityofstudentsareusingacertaintypeofpaymentoption,suchasamealplan,this
mightaffectifagrocerystorewouldhaveanewlocationnearcampus.
SQ7.

Bystatingtheiropiniononthisstatement,wearehelpingtoanswerresearchquestion2.This
willhelpusfurtherdetermineiftheCompanyShopsMarketwouldbeasuccessfulbusinessto
putoncampus,becausetheyareastorethatadvertisesthefactthattheirproductsarelocally
grownandorganic.
SQ8.

Surveyquestion8operationalisesresearchquestion10,
Wouldstudentsutilizeagrocerystore
inwalkingdistancefromcampus.Whenthisquestioniscrosstabbedwithsurveyquestion5to
determinehowstudentsthatliveoncampusfeelregardingagrocerystorelocationinwalking
distancefromcampus
.
SQ9.

Thisquestionspermitsustooperationalizeresearchquestionseven,wouldupperclassmenbe
morelikelytoshopatanoncampusgrocerystore?Wehopedtolearnwhatclasswouldbe
interestedintheconceptofthisgrocerystoreanddetermineiftherewasadifferenceinopinion
basedonclasses.
Thisquestioncanbecrosstabbedwithsurveyquestion9todeterminewhat
classyearspreferwhatgrocerystores
.
SQ10.

Thissurveyquestionwasusedtooperationalizetheresearchquestionnine,Arefemalesmore
likelytoshopatanoncampusgrocerystore?Wewerehopingtodetermineiftherewouldbea
differenceinopinionbasedonthegenderoftheresponder.

DataAnalysis/DetailedFindings

SurveyQuestion1:Wouldyoushopatagrocerystorelocatedclosetocampus?
Table1.0

Thisgraphoperationalizessurveyquestion3,Wouldshowsusthat100%ofthestudents
answeredthattheywouldutilizeagrocerystorethatislocatedclosetocampus.Thisfindingis
crucialtoallofourresearchquestionsandourhypothesesbecauseitshowsthatallstudents,
varyingfromclassyears,wouldvalueagrocerystorethatwaslocatedoncampus.Ifsomeone
hadanswerednotothisquestioniswouldskewtherestoftheiranswersonthesurvey.

SurveyQuestion2:Outofthefollowinggrocerystores,whichonewouldyouprefertobe
onElonscampus?
Table1.2

Thistableshowsthebreakdownofthemostpopularchoicesofgrocerystoresstudentswould
liketoseeasaviableoptionforbeinglocatedinwalkingdistanceofcampus.This
operationalizedresearchquestion5,Whatgrocerystoreswouldstudentsprefertohaveon
campus?Thiswasanimportantquestiontosincesinceweareworkingforourspecificclient,
CompanyShopsMarket.Accordingtotheresults,overhalfoftherespondentswouldliketosee

HarrisTeeter,whilenearly25%wouldliketoseeCompanyShopsmarket.Thisshowsthereis
someestablishedinterestinhavingalocationnearcampus.

SurveyQuestion3:Whatistheoutletyouusethemostforfood?Rankinorder.
Table1.3

Thisresultsfromthissurveyquestionshowthatmostparticipants(51.02%)statedthattheyuse
groceriesfromhomethemostoutofallofthefoodoutlets.Italsoshowsusthat62.63%ofthe
respondentsstatedthattheyusedininghallstheleastoutofallofthefoodoutlets.Italso
showsusthatifthegrocerystorehadagrabandgooptionthatitwouldbefrequentedby
studentsbecausethesecondmostpopularresponsebyparticipants(41%)wasthattheylisted
thattheyuserestaurantsoffcampustogetfood,followinggroceriesfromhome.Although
mostofourrespondentswereupperclassman,thisshowsuspromisingresults.Sincemostof
oursurveyorssaidtheyusegroceriesfromhomeforfooditgivesuspositiveinsightthatifa
grocerystorewasaddedtocampusthatitwouldbeutilizedbystudentsfrequently.

SurveyQuestion4:Iftherewasagrocerystorelocatedoncampus,whatserviceswould
youliketoseeoffered.Checkallthatapply.
Table1.4


Thissurveyquestionallowedrespondentstocheckalloftheservicesthattheywouldutilizeif
thegrocerystoreofferedthem.Fromthischart,weareabletodeterminethatmoststudents
wouldusealloftheservices,exceptforthepastriesaspect.Itwasinterestingthatwiththefood
optionsalreadyoncampus,mostoftheparticipants(77%)saidthattheywouldbuysandwiches
atthegrocerystore,andalsoutilizeasaladbar(65%).ThischartalsoshowsthatifCompany
ShopsMarketwastoputalocationoncampus,theywouldbesuccessfulbecause69%of
studentssaidthattheywouldbuylocallygrownproductsand61%saidthattheywould
purchaseorganicproducts,whicharetwodistinguishingfeaturesthatonlytheCoOpoffers.

SurveyQuestion5:Doyouliveoncampus?
Table1.5

Thischartisimportantwhenlookingatwhetherstudentsliveonoroffcampus.Asthechart
shows,moststudentsdonotliveoncampus,whichmeansthathavingagrocerystorein
walkingdistancetocampusmaynotbeawaytoattractcustomers.Thepushmighthavetobe
thatitisagrocerystoreclosetocampusthatoffersorganicandlocallygrownproducts,aswell
asgrabandgofood.

SurveyQuestion6:Howdoyoupayforthemajorityofyourfoodduringtheschoolyear?
Table1.6

Thesestatisticsshowthemethodinwhichstudentspayfortheirfoodduringtheschoolyear.
Thisshowsushowmanystudentssticktooncampusdining,byreviewinghowmanyusetheir
foodplanandPhoenixcard.Ifstudentssaytheyusecashandtheircardduringtheyearfor
food,theyaremorelikelytobepotentialcustomers.Itispromisingthat45.92%ofstudentssaid

thattheyneverusetheirfoodplan.Itisalsopromisingthat31.63%ofstudentsalwaysusetheir
card/debitcardtopurchasefood.

SurveyQuestion7:Iwouldpaymoreforlocallygrownproducts.
Table1.7

Thischartshowsthatoverhalfoftherespondentssaidtheywouldpaymoreforlocallygrown
products.Thisshowsthatstudentswouldbeseeastore,suchastheCompanyShopsMarket,
asholdinganadvantageoversomeoftheotheroptionssincetheyhavelocalproducts.Atthe
sametime,39%saidtheywouldntpaymore,whichisalargeportionofthesample.Thisshows
thereisastrongdesireforlocalproducts,withsomeholdoutswithinthesamplepopulation.

SurveyQuestion8:Iwouldvisitagrocerystoreinwalkingdistancefromme.
Table1.8

Thischartshowsthatthemajorityofrespondents(54.55%)feltstronglyaboutagrocerystore
locationbeingaddedtocampus.Thischartisamoreindepthevaluationofsurveyquestion1,
bymakingtherespondentsstatetheiropinioninsteadofusingayesornoresponse.These
resultsarepositiveforoursurveybecausetheyshowthatmostofElonstudentsagreeor

stronglyagreewiththatstatementthatElonneedsagrocerystoreaccessibleinwalking
distanceforstudents.

SurveyQuestion9:Whatclassyearareyou?
Table1.9

Thisgraphisimportanttounderstandthedemographicsofthepeoplethattookoursurvey.By
knowingwhatclassyeartheyarein,wecanusethisinformationtoseewhataretarget
audienceisforthenewgrocerystore.Itshowsthatmostlyseniorsandjuniorswerethehighest
respondentsofthesurvey.Thisshowstheresponsedemographicsmightskewsomeofour
information,butitispromisingbecausemostofthefeedbackfromthemwasthatagrocery
storeclosetocampuswasdesirable.

SurveyQuestion10:Whatisyourgender?
Table1.10

Theseresultsarealsoverytellingtounderstandthedemographicsofoursurveyors.Although
mostlyfemalesansweredoursurvey,itwasexpectedsinceEloncontainsmorefemalesinits
studentbody.

CrossTabOne
Table2.1

Forourfirstcrosstab,wedecidedtolookatwherestudentsliveandhowtheyfeltaboutthe
possibilityofutilizingagrocerystorethatwouldbeinwalkingdistancefromtheiron/offcampus
housing.Outofour100respondents,wehave40surveyorswholiveoncampusand60living
offcampus.Forbothofthegroupsofstudents,over50percentoftherespondentschose
stronglyagreewhenpresentedwiththeoptionswhenaskediftheywouldvisitagrocerystore
inwalkingdistancefromcampus.Combinedwiththeagreechoice,thedataindicatedthat
95%ofoncampusstudentswereinfavorofwalkingtoagrocerystore,and87%ofoffcampus
studentsfeltthiswayaswell.Thesearefavorablestatisticsthatshowthereishighinterestin
theideaofaclosegrocerystore.Thisanalysissupportsourhypothesisofstudentsvisitinga
grocerystoreifitwaslocatednearcampus.

CrossTabTwo
Table2.2

Foroursecondcrosstab,wedecidedtocompareclassyearandwhatstorewouldonepreferto
seeclosetocampus.Bydoingthis,wewereabletoseethedistributionofpreferencesin
regardstostoretype.However,onethingtopointoutisthatwehadnofreshmanrespondents
foroursurvey,sothismaycausesomeofourdatatobeskewedtoacertaindegree.Lookingat
thedata,itisclearthereisawidespreadofpreferencesofgrocerystores,butthehighest
numberinallofthecategoriesisforHarrisTeeter.Overall,theredidntseemtobeany
correlationbetweengradelevelandthestorepreference.Lookingattheoverallpopularity
acrosstheboard,CompanyShopsMarketwasrankedsecondineachofthegradelevelswith
multipleresponses.Thisshowsthatthosewhoselectedthisistheirtopchoicearededicatedto

thisretailerandwouldbeexcitedtoseeanewlocationclosetocampus.Thiswouldbe
beneficialforCompanyShopsMarkettoknowthattheyarerankedaboveseveralotherlarge
retailersinthemindsofElonstudents.

Implications/KnowledgeGained:

Fromourresearchwewereabletoconfirmthatoneofourtwohypothesesprovedtobe
trueandwewereabletoachievetheresearchobjectivethatwesetoutwith.Westartedwith
theresearchobjectiveoffinding,ifElonstudentswouldfrequentagrocerystorelocatedclose
tocampus,andwhatcharacteristicstheywouldlookforinthepotentialgrocerystore.Withthis
objectivewestrategicallybasedourresearchquestionsandsurveyquestionssolelytoachieve
thisobjectiveandfinevalidateourhypotheses.Themostusefulfindinginoursurveywasthat
100%ofstudentssaidthattheywouldfrequentagrocerystoreclosetocampus,considering
theotherfoodoptions.Anotherimportantfindingwasthat24%ofstudentssaidthattheyprefer
CompanyShopsmarketfortheirgroceryshopping,whichwassecondtoHarrisTeeter(53%).
However,itisimportanttonotethatHarrisTeeterisconvenientlylocated,andiftheCoOpwere
toexpandtoElonitmightsurpassHarrisTeeterandfunctionastheprimarygrocerystorefor
Elonstudents.Asfaraswhatstudentswantthegrocerystoretooffer,wewereabletoanswer
thatbyallowingstudentstocheckallofthethingstheywouldwantittohave.Intheclient
overview,McDonaldmentionedabouttheCoOpcontainingagrabandgooption.Theresults
fromthesurveyprovedthatitwouldbehighlysuccessfulifitofferedthisservice.Our
hypotheseswere:
1.

Iftherewasagrocerystorelocatedoncampus,thenoncampusstudentswouldshop
there.

2.

Ifthereisagrocerystoreconvenientlylocatedclosetocampus,thenstudentswill
choosetoshopthereoverothergrocerystoresinBurlington.

Fromourresearchwewereabletodeterminethatbothhypotheseswereproventrue.For
hypothesisnumber1,wewereabletodoacrosstabulationofsurveyquestion8,Iwouldvisita
grocerystoreinwalkingdistancefrommeandsurveyquestion5,Doyouliveoncampus?
Fromcrosstabbingthesetwoquestionswewereabletodeterminethat95%ofoncampus
studentswereinfavorofwalkingtoagrocerystorethatwaslocatedoncampus.However,
therewasalso87%ofoffcampusstudentsthatsaidtheywouldalsogotoagrocerystorein
walkingdistancefromcampus.Sowhileourhypothesisistrue,wecanalsosaythatboth
oncampusandoffcampusstudentswouldequallyuseagrocerystoreinwalkingdistancefrom
campus.
Foroursecondhypothesis,wewereabletodeterminethatitwasnottruebasedonthe
developmentofsurveyquestion2,Outofthefollowinggrocerystores,whichonewouldyou
prefertobeonElonscampus?WegavethemtheoptionofdecidingbetweenHarrisTeeter,
LowesFood,CompanyShopsMarket,FoodLion,orother.Outoftherespondents53%of
themsaidthattheyprefertoshopatHarrisTeeter.Thesecondpreferredlocationforgroceries
wastheCompanyShopsMarket(24%).However,somethingthatshouldbeconsideredisthe
currentconvenienceofHarrisTeeterforElonstudents.Therefore,a10minutecarride
differencebetweenHarrisTeeterandtheCoOpcoulddeterminestudentspreferredgrocery
store.Sowhilemoststudentssaythattheyare
currently
loyaltoHarrisTeeterandwouldprefer
forthemtobeoncampus,ifthecoopweretoopenalocationonElonscampus,thisopinion
couldverywellshift.

Limitations/FutureResearch:

Thiswasanonprobabilitysample,sotheresultscannotbegeneralizedtotheentiretyof
Elonspopulation.NoteveryElonstudent,inallgrades,hadtheopportunityofbeingselected
becauseweonlyaskedourFacebookfriendstotakeoursurveyandthemajorityofour
Facebookfriendsconsistofseniorsandjuniors.Itwasapurposiveconveniencesample,which
meansitwasvolunteerbasedandnotarandomsample.
Anotherlimitationthatalsorelatestothepreviousonewasthatsinceweonlypostedthe
surveylinkonourFacebookpagesandthesurveywasonlyaccessibletoourElonFacebook
friends,wecametotherealizationthatwecantreallycalculatetheexactnumberofourfriends
fromElontookthesurvey.Wecanestimate,butourestimationcanbecompletelyinaccurate.
Athirdlimitationwecameacrosswasthatoutofthe100respondents,79females
respondedwhileonly21malesdid.SincethesurveywasaimedatElonstudents,thisisnta
surprisethatthemajoritywhochosetorespondwerefemale,butthatresultsinanotso
accuratedescriptionofthepopulation.Ifmoremalesrespondedthenwemostlikelywouldve
receivedmoreevenedoutresults.
Afterreviewingourresearch,wedeterminedthatquestion8overlapswithquestion1
andthatiscompletelyourerror.Question1asks,Wouldyoushopatagrocerystorelocated
closetocampus?andquestion8basicallystatesthesamethingbutrewordeddifferently,I
wouldvisitagrocerystoreinwalkingdistancefromme.Althoughwewereabletogain
significantdatafromeachquestionbecausetheywereaskedandanswereddifferently,we
couldhaveusedour8thsurveyquestionmorestrategically.
Inasubsequentstudy,wewouldliketoanalyzeandreachouttoalargerportionof
Elonsstudentpopulation.Wewouldfindawaytoextendoursurveytomoreunderclassmen,
i.e.firstyearsandsophomores,sinceweknowthemajorityofourrespondentswereall
upperclassmen.Bydoingthis,wewouldobtainmoreaccurateresultsasawhole.