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CASE STUDY 3
BUSI 600
Dr. Michael Walker
Case Assignment #3
Jaime Arze
9/20/14
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5- Critique the survey used for the Penton study
Penton media, a publisher of business magazines set forward a research study in
order to further their understanding of the consumer market, and determine why reader
service card was not gathering as much market share as it had in the past. The reader
card is a post car size tool that has been long used by Penton users to request products, or
services. Penton has devised a survey for its costumers, in order to help answer questions
about the viability of their reader cards.
It doesn’t take very long for the consumer to realize the survey is lengthy,
unorganized, and very broad. The questions being asked range from a large spectrum, and
do not guide the reader towards a specific directive, or objective. Instead, the questions
are mostly open ended, and lack the precision and assertiveness required for the gathering
any conclusive data (Cooper & Schindler, 2014).
The wording found in the questions is easy to understand, and clear about what it
is asking. The clarity found in the surveys wording however, is not enough to make up for
the lack of purpose and structure. A clear and concise survey is often the key to an honest
and trustful answer, however, with a lack of purpose, the participants are likely to lose
interest in the survey, long before they can start giving any honest or helpful answers
(Cooper & Schindler, 2014).
Penton has done a good job at identifying the correct group of individuals to take
the survey. Unfortunately the survey is not designed in a way that will fully benefit
Penton, and so the isolation of an organizations decision maker will still render useless
unless the survey is properly redesign to cater and attract the opinion of these individuals.
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CASE STUDY 3
Organizations decision makers are less likely to have spare time, and thus, they lack the
ability to dedicate time to some lesser urgent matters, like surveys that wont likely benefit
their organization. The structure and purpose of the survey could define how serious
these individuals will take the survey.
All in all, Penton media has designed a through and lengthy survey that isolates
the issues they wish to know more about but there are many areas of the survey that still
require work. Firstly, Penton should begin by providing a better structure through out the
survey. A way to do this would be to condense the survey. Another step would be to
design the survey in a way that guides the surveyor through instead of confusing them
with the questions. By doing this, Penton Media may be able to attract the surveyor and
obtain more sincere and concise answers, which would later benefit the study by
providing more accurate data.
6- Prepare the survey for analysis. Set up the code sheet for this study. How will this
study be set up to be tabulated by a statistical analysis program like SPSS.
Coding is a widely popular way to conduct statistical analysis. Commonly used
by market researchers, survey companies, government and even data miners, SPSS is
among the most effective and methods for coding data related to social sciences.
Summarized into basics, coding data involves the assignment of numbers and symbols to
information pulled form a questionnaire or survey. The overall purpose of doing this is
that when compiled together into a program, different data can be grouped together, and
better analyzed. Attached a coded version of Penton medias survey. The data brackets are
organized as follows; Question#| Variable#| Code Description| Variable Name|
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SPSS Survey Code
1 | 1 | Role Involvement 1 = Construction / Renovation Work 2 =
Equipment/Machinery 3 = Maintenance/Repair/Operating Supplies4 = Production
Material/Components 5 = Services 6= Other 7 = Not Involved in Purchasing Decisions8
| RICRWEMMROSPMCSONIPD |
2 | 2 | Method Used for Response in last year 1 = Faxed 2 = Mailed 3 = Sent
Email to Company 4 = Telephoned company 5 = Used Advertiser’s Fax-On-Demand
Service 6 = Visited the Company’s Internet Website 7 = Other
| MUFRILYFMSETCTCUAFODSVTCIWO|
| 3 | Action Taken during Past Year 1 = Immediate Product or Service 2 =
Non-Immediate Product or Service 3 = Did Not Do In Past Year 4
| IATDPYIMPOSNPOSDNDIPY|
3 | 4 | Most Useful Types of Information provided 1 = Ability to Customize
products/services 2 = Availability/Delivery 3 = Complete Company Catalog 4 = Short-
form(condensed)Catalog 5 = Company Experience/Expertise 6 = Company Financial
Strength/Stability 7 = Customer/Client List 8 = Customer Service/Technical Support 9 =
ISO/Professional Certification 10 = List of Sales/Service Locations 11 = Price List 12 =
Product Specifications 13 = Quality/Reliability 14 = Savings in Time/Money 15 =
Warranty/Guarantee Offered 16 = Other
|MUTIPATCPACCCSFCEECFSSCCICLOSLPLPSQSITWOO|
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CASE STUDY 3
4 | 5 | 1 = Change Over the Past Five Years 2 = Expected Change over the Next
Five Years
| COTPFYECOTNFY|
| 6 | 1 = Faxed 2 = Mailed 3 = Sent Email to Company 7 = Telephoning
Company4 = Used Advertiser’s Fax-On-Demand Service5 = Visited the Company’s
Internet Website 6 = Other
| FMSECTCUAFODSVTCIWO|
| 7 | Faxing 1 = Business Reply Card to Company 2 = Coupon From Ad 3 =
Letter to Company4 = Publication Reader Service Card
| FBRCTCCFALTCPRSC|
| 8 | Mailing 1 = Business Reply Card to Company 2 = Coupon From Ad 3 =
Letter to Company 4 = Publication Reader Service Card
| MBRCCCFALTCPRSC|
| 9 | Sending e-mail to Company/Telephoning Company 1 = Local Number 2
= Non-Toll-Free Number 3 = Toll-Free Number
| SETCLNNTFNTFN |
| 10 | Responses 1 = Has Increased2 = Has Stayed the Same 3 = Has Decreased
4 = Haven’t Done in Five Years 5 = Will Increase 6 = Will Stay the Same 7 = Will
Decrease
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| RHIHSTSHDHDIYWIWSTSWD|
5 | 11 | Which Method of Obtaining information is Preferred 1 = Faxing 2 =
Mailing 3 = Telephoning Company 4 = Using Advertiser’s Fax-On-Demand Service 5 =
Visiting the Company’s Internet Website 6 = Other
| WMOOISPFMTCUAFODSVTCIWO|
| 12 | Faxing1 = Business Reply Card to Company 2 = Coupon From Ad 3 =
Letter to Company 4 = Publication Reader Service Card
| FBRCCCFALTCPRSC|
| 13 | Mailing1 = Business Reply Card to Company 2 = Coupon From Ad 3 =
Letter to Company 4 = Publication Reader Service Card
| MBRCCCFALTCPRSC|
| 14 | Telephoning Company 1 = Local Number 2 = Non-Toll-Free Number 3 =
Toll-Free Number
| LONUNTFNTFN|
| 15 | Using Company’s Fax-On-Demand Service
| UCFODS|
| 16 | Visiting the Company’s Internet Website
| VTCIW|
| 17 | Other
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CASE STUDY 3
| O|
6 | 18 | Current Access to the Internet1 = Yes, at Work 2 = Yes, at Home/Away
From Home 3 = No Current Internet Access4 = Will Have Within Year 5 = Will Have in 1
-5 Years 6 = Will Not Have Within 5 Years
| YEWOYEHONOIAWHWYWHYEWINO |
7 | 19 | Current Internet Access 1= Reading bulletin boards for Work 2 =
researching potential suppliers/products/services for your organization 3 = Obtaining
technical information 4 = Communicating by email 5 = Purchasing Products or Services6
= Other
| RBBFWRPSPSFYOOBTICMBEPPOS |
| 20 | 3 = Use of Internet During the Past Year 4 = Expected Use of Internet the
Next Five Years
| UOIDTPYEUOITNFY|
8 | 21 | Gender 1 = Male 2 = Female
| GMF |
9 | 22 | Age 1 = Under 302 = 30 - 393 = 40 - 494 = 50 or Older
| AUO |
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Once ran through an SPSS system, the attached coded sheet of data will allow the
program to develop data such as: ratios, frequencies, cross tabulations, and other
descriptive statistics. With the wide spectrum of information that is provided by the
program, the researchers at Penton can then perform a more in depth, detail analysis of
the survey.
