Each fall I have the pleasure of teaching undergraduates in the Recreation and Tourism Degree about the joys of doing applied research. In doing so, I think it is imperative for them to work with real life scenarios and organizations that need information for improved decision making. This year, the Cowichan Wine and Culinary Festival, who we have worked with in the past, asked our students to be involved in collecting market intelligence for them. Six students in the course signed up to greet visitors at various vendors in the festival to survey them on their experience.
Surveying people during an experience is a bit problematic in terms of getting valid data. If you ask someone who is not done their experience yet, it is difficult to get complete information from them. For example, asking someone how much they spent at the festival when they are still spending, may provide you with inaccurate amounts. I have been trying to experiment over the years with models to correct this bias. The students method with the organizers was to solicit visitors contact information and then to contact them post experience to ask the questions. They had tremendous success with this approach, and are now busy collecting their data for the organizers. If they have strong response rates, it may be worth sharing with other organizers who are facing similar issues.
Kudos to the students on their work, to the vendors that worked so hard during the festival and to the organizers for asking VIU students to engage with them in their search for information. Win-win-win scenarios are always possible.
Surveying people during an experience is a bit problematic in terms of getting valid data. If you ask someone who is not done their experience yet, it is difficult to get complete information from them. For example, asking someone how much they spent at the festival when they are still spending, may provide you with inaccurate amounts. I have been trying to experiment over the years with models to correct this bias. The students method with the organizers was to solicit visitors contact information and then to contact them post experience to ask the questions. They had tremendous success with this approach, and are now busy collecting their data for the organizers. If they have strong response rates, it may be worth sharing with other organizers who are facing similar issues.
Kudos to the students on their work, to the vendors that worked so hard during the festival and to the organizers for asking VIU students to engage with them in their search for information. Win-win-win scenarios are always possible.
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