The Satisfaction Levels among the Respondents Based on Different Items at the Lincoln Christmas Market - Research Paper Example

University of Lincoln

Quantitative Research Report

by

Your Name

10th May 2016

<Lecturer’s Name and Course Number>

Questionnaire evaluation

This research study done by the city council through the university of Lincoln students, sought to establish the number of people who usually patronize the Christmas market and also to know whether the general public is satisfied with the services being offered by the city of Lincoln council. The outcomes of this survey with help the council to identify the areas which need corrections and also know their areas of strength as far as serving the public in the Christmas market is concerned.

One ethical issue that the survey has put into consideration is the aspect of consent. As a regulation, no items apart from those relating to consent should require a response. In the questionnaire, the respondents have been given a free will. They are not under any force. They have been told that they can exit the survey at any point. In as much as this is allowed however, they should also be made to know that they cannot withdraw any responses that they have made at the point of exit

Not any research survey would be trusted by all respondents. Lack of trust on the side of the respondents may arise due to lack of clear intention of the survey and the body carrying out the survey. In this case, the survey is transparent as the questionnaire has the logos of both the institutions behind the survey. This increases its reliability and also the validity of information therein.

According to me this survey would have been web based. This is because online administration of surveys comes along with various advantages and is also becoming conventionally popular among researchers. It is specifically attractive to those who want to get large numbers of respondents and to those who would want the respondents’ responses to remain anonymous. To add on it is easier since there are softwares which can facilitate the administration of the survey. One such software is known as Survey Monkey. It is a more acceptable survey software tool to use in web based surveys. Survey Monkey is not the only survey software tool, but it is probably the best known since it safeguards a number of ethical issues.

The survey has incorporated all aspects of attitude, behaviour and demography. When it comes to attitude, the survey tested this by asking questions which were bordering on attitude and they were required to rate the items on a Likert scale with 1 representing strongly agree and 5 representing strongly disagree.

The survey has adopted a relatively simpler format that is easily understood by every averagely learned person. For example when it comes to scaling, the study has concentrated much on the word scaling. This is useful as it provides the responded with a list of scored categories for the respondent to choose from. This is easier as the respondent is able to internalize their own feelings on the subject and decide which label reflects their opinion best. This is opposed to a number scale which is usually very subjective to the respondents. For example, depending on a person, 6 on a scale of 1-10 could mean anything from good to barely a pass.

The greatest asset of this survey is that it is an institutional survey since it is conducted by students from a recognized university. This plays to the advantage of the survey since majority of the respondents will not be having any problem with the authenticity of the survey. On the other hand there is a limitation to this survey some of the questions in the questionnaire are touching on sensitive issues such as an individual’s annual salary. The survey may suffer dishonesty as not many people like to disclose the amount of their wealth or resource.

Analysis

2 a) Analysis of sample composition

Gender

In the study, we asked the participants about themselves. 65.4% of the participants said to be females while 34.6% were male participants. The composition of male and females in this sample is unexpected. Normally, studies try to have a 50-50 representation of both males and female respondents.

Table 1: Q13. Gender?

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Valid

Male

Female

Total

242

457

699

34.2

64.6

98.9

34.6

65.4

100.0

34.6

100.0

Missing

999

8

1.1

Total

707

100.0

Age

In terms of age, the participants ranged from less than 22 years old to over 65 years old. Majority (27%) of the participants were between 36-50 years old. The least number of participants (14.1%) were aged 65 years old and over. 19.8% of the participants were aged 22 years old or less while those aged 23-35 years old and those aged 51-64 years old were 17% and 22.1% respectively.

Household income (per annum)

Next we look at the composition of the respondents in terms of their annual income. The results shows that majority (31.6%) of the participants had an annual income of between £26,000-£44,999 while the least number of participants (5.4%) interviewed earned £80,000 plus. 17.8%, 26.6%, 11.2% and 7.4% of the respondents said to earn an annual income of £0-£14,999, £15,000-£25,999, £45,000-£59,999 and £60,000-£79,999 respectively.

Ethnicity

Majority (90.4%) of the respondents indicated their ethnicity as being white. Black or Black British – African were 2.2% while Other Asian background were represented by 1.2%. The rest of the ethnicities accounted for less 1% (see table 2 below).

Table 2: Q16. Could you please indicate your ethnicity?

Frequency

Percent

White

625

90.4%

Gypsy or Traveller

3

0.4%

Black or Black British – Caribbean

2

0.3%

Black or Black British - African

15

2.2%

Other Black background

4

0.6%

Asian or Asian British - Indian

5

0.7%

Asian or Asian British - Pakistani

4

0.6%

Other Asian background

8

1.2%

Mixed - White and Black Caribbean

5

0.7%

Mixed - White and Black African

5

0.7%

Mixed - White and Asian

1

0.1%

Other Mixed background

1

0.1%

Arab

2

0.3%

Other Ethnic background

2

0.3%

Chinese

7

1.0%

Prefer not to say

2

0.3%

Total

691

100.0%

2 b) Analysis of satisfaction levels reported in the Questionnaire

Table 3 below gives the results on satisfaction levels reported in the questionnaire for different items. Christmassy atmosphere had the highest percent (43.7%) of respondents who strongly agreed while Toilets are clean & tidy had the least percent (11.5%) of the respondents who strongly agreed (see table 3 below).

Table 3: To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements about the Lincoln Christmas market?

Statement

Strongly Agree

Agree

Neither Agree nor Disagree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Do not know / Did not use

Welcoming

34.2%

56.3%

6.8%

2.3%

0.1%

0.3%

Signage is visible

22.3%

51.3%

13.3%

11.6%

0.7%

0.7%

Signage is informative

21.5%

51.9%

13.7%

7.5%

0.8%

4.5%

Good number of toilets

16.8%

42.6%

22.2%

10.2%

1.1%

9.1%

Toilets are clean & tidy

11.5%

34.4%

23.5%

4.0%

1.3%

25.5%

An authentic experience

32.1%

48.2%

14.0%

4.1%

0.7%

0.8%

Christmassy atmosphere

43.7%

46.8%

4.8%

3.7%

1.0%

0.0%

Layout is appropriate

30.6%

51.9%

12.6%

3.8%

0.8%

0.3%

Quality of stalls is good

26.7%

58.6%

10.7%

3.3%

0.7%

0.0%

Range of stalls is good

24.9%

57.0%

11.9%

4.8%

1.1%

0.3%

Good local produce

23.3%

48.7%

20.1%

4.4%

0.8%

2.7%

Good announcements

16.0%

43.0%

22.2%

8.8%

2.0%

8.0%

Safe

35.9%

54.2%

7.4%

1.4%

0.1%

1.0%

Overcrowded

19.1%

27.9%

21.9%

24.0%

5.7%

1.4%

Good entertainment

20.1%

54.6%

16.7%

5.4%

0.8%

2.4%

Good fun

27.3%

62.0%

8.6%

1.4%

0.1%

0.5%

Very enjoyable

34.8%

55.0%

7.9%

1.6%

0.1%

0.6%

Ranking of the scores

After the results in table 3 above, I ranked the responses for each item to determine which of the items scored highest and which one scored lowest. I used 5 for strongly agree, 4 for agree, 3 for neutral, 2 for disagree and 1 for strongly disagree. In this case therefore, a rank closer to 5 was regarded as the highest score while a rank closer to 1 was regarded as the lowest. Table 4 below gives the rank scores for the different items.

Table 4: Score ranking

Item

Score Ranking

Position

Christmassy atmosphere

4.285714

1

Safe

4.255714

2

Very enjoyable

4.234708

3

Welcoming

4.225532

4

Good fun

4.15505

5

An authentic experience

4.078459

6

Layout is appropriate

4.078014

7

Quality of stalls is good

4.07355

8

Range of stalls is good

4

9

Good local produce

3.917151

10

Good entertainment

3.898551

11

Signage is informative

3.897778

12

Signage is visible

3.836182

13

Good number of toilets

3.7014

14

Toilets are clean & tidy

3.681214

15

Good announcements

3.676923

16

Overcrowded

3.311334

17

Christmassy atmosphere ranked highest with a score of 4.286 while overcrowded ranked lowest with a score of 3.311 (see table 4 above). In overall, 9 items has a score of 4 and above while 8 items scored below 4. It is therefore clear that respondents are particularly most satisfied with Christmassy atmosphere and at the same time they are least satisfied with overcrowding that is seen at Lincoln Christmas Market. Other items, among the top five, that respondents are satisfied with are safety, very enjoyable, welcoming and good fun in that order. Bottom five items that scored lowest are Signage is visible, Good number of toilets, Toilets are clean & tidy, Good announcements and Overcrowded in that order.

Next, I conducted a cross-tabulation between the satisfaction of the various items and whether the respondents lived/residents in Lincoln or not. The Chi-Square was tested at α=0.05 level. Table 5 below gives the results;

Table 5: Chi-Square test results

Pearson Chi-Square Value

P-value

Welcoming

26.535

0.000

Signage is visible

26.335

0.000

Signage is informative

2.028

0.731

Good number of toilets

10.654

0.031

Toilets are clean & tidy

10.241

0.037

An authentic experience

14.054

0.007

Christmassy atmosphere

12.930

0.012

Layout is appropriate

1.601

0.811

Quality of stalls is good

12.315

0.015

Range of stalls is good

11.525

0.021

Good local produce

2.242

0.698

Good announcements

9.620

0.047

Safe

2.400

0.707

Overcrowded

9.095

0.059

Good entertainment

4.077

0.396

Good fun

8.393

0.078

Very enjoyable

8.635

0.071

From the table, it is evident that there is significant association between satisfaction levels and residence of the respondents for 9 items. The items that showed significant association with residence are welcoming, signage is visible, good number of toilets, toilets are clean & tidy, an authentic experience, Christmassy atmosphere, quality of stalls is good, range of stalls is good and good announcements. There is however no association between respondent’s residence and satisfaction levels in regard to whether the signage is informative, layout is appropriate, good local produce, safe, overcrowded, good entertainment, good fun and very enjoyable.

The above results shows that there are some factors that differ based on whether the one lives in Lincoln or not. For instance, more of the non-residents (93%) feel that the market is welcoming and are satisfied while 89% of the Lincoln residents feel that the market is satisfying. This shows that either there is a bias on how different people are welcomed in the market based on where they come from. Also in terms of the visibility of the signage, less of the Lincoln residents (66%) agree that the signage is visible while 82% of the non-Lincoln residents believe that the signage is visible.

2 c) Analyzing expenditure

Table 6 below gives the respondent’s expenditure on different activities. It can be seen that the average expenditure on food and drinks was £23.25, accommodation took an average of £82.04 while shopping and entertainment took an average of £37.86 and £9.99 respectively.

Table 6: Descriptive Statistics

N

Minimum

Maximum

Mean

Std. Deviation

Food and Drink

611

0

314

23.25

30.489

Accommodation

107

0

600

82.04

116.459

Shopping

610

0

400

37.86

43.502

Entertainment

609

0

240

9.99

24.549

Total Expenditure

635

0

1000

86.04

114.137

The mean expenditure per respondent can be seen to be £86.04.

It can also be noted from the above results that accommodation (£82.04) took the highest part of the expenditure and it was followed by shopping (£37.86), food and drink (£23.35) came third while the least expenditure was made on entertainment (£9.99).

Since the organizers of the Christmas Market are particularly interested in whether expenditure is different among visitors to, and residents of, Lincoln I computed a t-test to compare this.

Table 7: Group Statistics

Resident of Lincoln?

N

Mean

Std. Deviation

Std. Error Mean

Total Expenditure

Yes

308

58.50

60.763

3.462

No

327

111.98

143.063

7.911

Table 7 gives the group statistics and it can be seen that the average total expenditure among the Lincoln residents is £58.5 while on average the non-Lincoln residents spend a total of £111.98.

Homogeneity of variance test

According to the Levene’s test the variability in the two conditions is far from being the same. That is, the scores in Lincoln residents vary too much more than the scores in thenon-Lincoln residents. 

Test of Homogeneity of Variances

Total Expenditure

Levene Statistic

df1

df2

Sig.

43.239

1

633

.000

Now using Equal variances not assumed we can see the p-value to be 0.000 (a value less than 5% level), we therefore reject the null hypothesis and conclude that the mean total expenditure among the two groups (Lincoln and non-Lincoln residents) is different at 5% level. It is clear that non-Lincoln residents spend more (£111.98) than Lincoln residents (£58.5).

Independent Samples Test

Levene's Test for Equality of Variances

t-test for Equality of Means

F

Sig.

t

df

Sig. (2-tailed)

Mean Difference

Std. Error Difference

95% Confidence Interval of the Difference

Lower

Total Expenditure

Equal variances assumed

43.239

.000

-6.064

633

.000

-53.471

8.817

-70.786

-36.156

Equal variances not assumed

-6.192

445.5

.000

-53.471

8.636

-70.443

-36.499

3) Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations

This is the final section of the report and it summarizesthe findings and draws some conclusions. We reiterate the key findings from the main analysis – highlighting the points that the organizers of Lincoln Christmas Market should pay particular attention to. The report also highlights what the research suggests are the areas where the Christmas Market performs well, as well as those areas where improvements are needed.

Summary

In terms of satisfaction levels based on different items identified at the Lincoln market, Christmassy atmosphere ranked highest with a rank score of 4.286 while on the other hand overcrowded ranked lowest with a score of 3.311. The cross tabulation showed that there are some factors that differ based on whether one is a resident of Lincoln or not. For instance, more of the non-residents (93%) feel that the market is welcoming are satisfied while 89% of the residents feel that the market is satisfying. This shows that either there is a bias on how different people are welcomed in the market based on where they come from.

In terms of expenditure, the study established that accommodation (£82.04) took the highest part of the expenditure and it was followed by shopping (£37.86), food and drink (£23.35) came third while the least expenditure was made on entertainment (£9.99).The mean expenditure per respondent was also found to be£86.04.

Lastly, residents of Lincoln were found to spend much less compared to non-Lincoln residents. Averagely, Lincoln residents spent £58.5while non-Lincoln residents spent an average of £111.98.

Conclusions

This study sought to carry out a survey of visitors to the Lincoln Christmas Market 2013 and identify their satisfaction levels. About 707 respondents took part in this study. Demographic characteristics such as gender, age, income, ethnicity and residence of the respondents were gathered. The study applied both descriptive and inferential statistics to make conclusions on key research areas of the study such as satisfaction levels and expenditure of the respondents at the Lincoln market.

Based on the results obtained from the study, the organizersof Lincoln Christmas Market should focus on decongesting the Lincoln Christmas Market. When we ranked the scores given by the respondents in regard to their satisfaction levels of the different categories within Lincoln Christmas Market, overcrowded ranked lowest. Majority of the respondents were not satisfied the congestion levels at the Lincoln Christmas Market and as such the organizers need to really work on plans to decongest the market. Respondents however felt that the Lincoln Christmas market has a Christmassy atmosphere (had highest ranking of 4.286) and as such the organizers need to maintain the same as many of the respondents felt satisfied. The organizers also need to do something when it comes to welcoming the customers to Lincoln Christmas market especially the residents of Lincoln. Results showed that more non-Lincoln residents (93%) felt that the market is welcoming and agreed that they are satisfied as compared to the Lincoln residents (89%). This shows that either there is a bias on how different people are welcomed in the market based on where they come from and so the organizers need to look on how different customers from different places are treated and welcomed at the Lincoln Christmas Market to ensure equality.

Lastly, the organizers need to come up with plans to encourage Lincoln residents to spend more at the Lincoln Christmas market. Results showed that non-Lincoln residents spent more as compared to Lincoln residents.

Recommendations

Out of this study I gained sufficient knowledge and understanding of the satisfaction levels among the respondents based on different items at the Lincoln Christmas market. In addition to gaining feedback on attributes of customersatisfaction levels, further work needs to be undertaken in the Lincoln Christmas market to better understand therelationship between the stall preference and service quality. The Lincoln Christmas market chosen was not representative of all the Christmas markets and as such future research should attempt to sample as many Christmas markets as possible to eliminate any bias that might arise as a result of choosing only one area. For the sample size, the study included a sufficiently large sample size hence the results could possibly be generalized.