Truly Learning in the Classroom

We all try to avoid certain topics when having conversations with others, such as abortion, the death penalty, and money. That is exactly what one Marketing Research Seminar class failed to do this semester. Or, based on the data, perhaps they succeeded? 

Under the guidance of Jack Allday, a group of about twenty students spent several weeks of their fall semester developing questions that would shed some light on how students at Northwood value various issues. The questions ranged in topic, from honesty and sex, to abortion and marriage. The results were then compiled and presented, with each question’s results compared by gender.

But before the survey was drafted, the students went through the rigorous process of developing the questions. It started by creating a list of categories that the students wanted to cover. Next, they had to create the actual survey. As one of the students in the class, I can speak from experience when I say that this was a surprisingly daunting and long-winded task. 

 

When composing questions, you must “wear several hats,” if you will, in order to try and determine the many ways respondents will perceive the question and what it is truly asking. Each question had to be phrased in a way that would allow respondents to use a likert scale to indicate their answers (Strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, or strongly disagree). The smallest word change can make the world of a difference in the way the question is comprehended – it can come off as positive, negative, or neutral, and sometimes even point the respondent towards a certain answer. 

After results were presented, it was interesting to analyze the various aspects of the data. One thing that several students noticed was that the number of males and females who “agreed” or “disagreed” with topics was similar. They did, however, differ in the severity of their agreement or disagreement. For example, the question “The love I have received from others has helped define who I am today” had almost the same percentage of males and females who agreed (79 and 80 percent, respectively). However, three-quarters of females felt that they “strongly agreed,” while three-quarters of males only stated that they “agreed.”

Overall, the results were very interesting. But perhaps the aspect that taught me the most was the process of developing the survey, conducting it, and then analyzing the results. I feel like this is a valuable skill that will transfer over well into the business world. In addition, it taught a lot about conducting projects in large groups. Most of our team presentations or projects have three to five people; working with a group of twenty individuals is completely different.

So while I not only learned some interesting facts about Northwood students, I also learned some real life tools that I can apply after graduation. 

~Melissa