The Mean Cost of Travel to Work - Essay Example

Report Section one Travel to Work Data was collected from Camdington Council regarding how their staff travels to work to the inner London council office located in Zone 2. Questionnaires were sent by email to all Camdington Council staff, but only 30% of the staff responded. The aim of this survey was to determine how staff traveled to work, how long the journeys took, and also to compare the amount of money staff spent on public transportation. The council is considering either to provide help with the cost of travel or to encourage staff to use other modes of transportation to work. The council planned to be charging staff for parking in other to encourage them to use public transport, which they thought would be more cost effective. The council also wanted to measure any changes in behaviour that occurred as a result of the campaign that was planned for this autumn. Source Camdington Council survey. The results from the sample were analysed by gender. Just 6% of males traveled to work by bicycle and 9% of females did the same. The results for males and females were remarkably close but were not representing. Furthermore, 20% of male staff used the bus to get to work while 14% of female staff used the same mode of transportation; according to this survey, more males use bus to get to work than female staff. It is amusing to know that 17% of male staff use the car car to get to work while 16% of females use the same mode of transportation too. Analysing the results for both male and female reveals no difference between the car users, and the results suggested that the respondent preferred to use this mode of transportation more than any other mode. 3% of male staff traveled to work on a motorcycle while there is no single female in the survey that used this mode of transportation. It could be that it is not a preferred mode of transportation for female respondents. 20% of males use trains compared to 24% of females that use the train as a mode of transportation. The underground is even more popular with females as 26% use this mode while only 21% male in the survey. 16% of males preferred to walk to work and 9% of females also preferred walking. The graph below clearly showed that staff used underground more as a mode of travel to work than any other mode suggested in the survey. The mean amount of time it takes Camdington Council staff, based on the results of the survey, was 34 minutes to travel to work for males and the same amount of time for female staff members. The standard deviation was 19 minutes for males, which was an equal time for females at 19 minutes. The (Coefficient of variation for males was 56% and 58% for females). These figures showed that there was no bias, even though the respondents were the same. See the graph below. The positive skew shown in the above graph, which indicates the time distribution, would help the council to identify how to support staff to spend less time in travelling, and also how to get to work quicker in a more environment friendly manner. The mean cost of travel to work for all respondents was determined by using the descriptive statistic was £ 32.39, and the median was £25.8. The mean was more than the median, which indicates differences of £6.59. It also means that the distribution is right skewed, which is positive. The most common amount spent by the respondent was £16.6, which is the mode. The minimal cost of travel to work was £11 and the maximum was £105.3. It has a large range of £94.3. The range could easily be distorted by one or two extreme values, which may not help the council to see how to support staff with the cost of travel to work; it is not an appropriate measure to use. The standard deviation was £ 19.63 and coefficient variation of 60.50%, which indicates that the data has a degree of fair spread. The survey reveals that the lower quartile was £16.6 and the upper quartile was £47.6 amount spent to travel to work. The mean cost of the male respondent in this survey was £ 25 .90 while the female respondent was £23.60. From the survey it shows that male staff spent more money to travel to work than female staff, but the mean may be affected by extreme outliers, as it does not always give typical values. My comment on these statistics is that it helps to analyse data and interpret the results. The means are affected by extreme outliers while the median are not. The standard deviation takes all observation into an account. Standard deviation is a well practical measure of spread. The mean as well as the standard deviation proved a powerful summary of a date set but mean is not always sufficient in describing how a set of data is distributed. Unfortunately, the range is too easily influenced by extreme values and is not a particularly suitable measure. Section Two The council used a questionnaire to collect data from staff through an email. Approximately 30% of staff responded, which is a sizeable percentage. In order to achieve reliable results, a sample should be representative of the target population. It is extremely relevant to get a reasonable response rate to avoid bias. Limitation in the survey may be due to the following reasons: there are too many questions or the respondents became bored before the end of the questionnaire. Some people may not have access to computers as easily or staff members were too busy responding to more pressing issues. Increase response rate will depend on the reason for the survey. The response rate could be improved for the “follow- up” survey to be conducted next summer. Sending questionnaires by email, as well as sending it by post and include stamped addressed envelopes, and, if possible, the council could include small incentives, such as a prize for the lucky reply and a better prize if the questionnaires are returned within certain days. The council could also send reminders to the staff involved that their responses are important. Read More