Provide a report to describe how you would plan a survey for this purpose - Essay Example

Running Head: Planning a Survey Planning Survey [Institute’s Planning Survey One of the most effective and popular methods of obtaining marketing and business information is by means of a survey. A survey is a short questionnaire, which aims to study the behavior of a sample population by asking them direct questions regarding information needed. The results are then analyzed by seeking out the most popular answers or examining opinions given by the population tested (Rubin, 2008, p. 67).In the scenario in which Canterbury City Council has to conduct a survey regarding visitors’ spending habits to help plan local businesses, the city council must consider a few steps during the survey process.

The first requirement is regarding sample population and the data collection procedure for obtaining required information (Rubin, 2008, p. 59).Access to the sample population of visitors can be in various tourist areas, shopping malls, and other visitor attractions. Therefore, one can conduct the survey at multiple locations where visitors are likely to be. Once researchers decide about sites of the survey, a sample population must be chosen and the number of visitors to be surveyed must be decided.

For instance, approximately one hundred visitor opinions can be an adequate number of responses needed for the results of the survey for generalization. After this, surveyors can focus on parameters or controls for age, gender, marital status, number of children, and income. Hence, out of the 100 respondents surveyed, 50 can be female and 50 can be male. Then the research team should divide participants further into age brackets to ensure that results may indicate opinion of people belonging to different age brackets (Schaeffer et al, 2011, pp. 112-115). The data should be collected via a verbal survey in which visitors are stopped at the site of the survey and requested to answer a few quick questions.

The interviewer should fill out the questionnaire him/herself and ask a limited number of questions, which should mostly be close-ended. It is important that the first few questions should relate to personal characteristics, such as age bracket, occupation, family size, and income. Subsequently, the questions should focus on the types of shops and the types of services people visit while staying in Canterbury City. It is important that the survey should ask information regarding spending of customers on different activities and products, and if possible, regarding total budget of the visit.

An efficient way will be to include quick questions regarding personal interests along with types of services/products that lacks in the city (Fowler, 2009, pp. 75-79). Statistical analysis will be an effective way to analyse the survey that will help the researcher in gauging the most popular answers and content analysis of the open-ended questions that will indicate similarities between visitors’ interests and their opinions. It will be creative if the team will use a statistical report to present results to the tourism department that will include results of all the questions included in the survey (McQuirrie, 2011, p. 89). Moreover, along with the statistical report, if possible, the presenter should distribute a written report that may facilitate the department officers to understand different aspects of the research (Churchill, p.

101, 2012). In this way, the survey will be extremely beneficial for the tourist department in increasing their visitor numbers as they will have information regarding the types of activities and products that tourists are looking for in the city and they can subsequently plan businesses to offer such products/services (Churchill, 2012, pp. 180-183). ReferencesChurchill, G.A. 2012. Market Research: Methodological Foundations. Cengage Learning.Fowler, F. J. 2009. Survey Research Methods. Sage PublicationsMcQuirrie, E.F. 2011.

The Market Research Toolbox: A Concise Guide for Beginners. Sage Publications.Rubin, J. 2008. Handbook of Usability Testing: How to Plan, Design, and Conduct Effective Tests. Wiley India PublishersSchaeffer, R. et al. 2011.Elementary Survey Sampling. Cengage Learning