1. What were you hoping to learn?
I wanted to learn where people shop and what features people like to see when searching online for laptops.
2. What did you do to prepare?
To prepare I created an online form at http://www.wufoo.com as these provide the first three questionnaires for free. I then created a report in wufoo.com so that I could view the information that was coming back. I then put a link to the online form on my personal Facebook page and asked people to fill it in.
The questions that were asked came from researching the topics that other students were asking about and identifying which areas statistical informaiton could give me an insight into the way that the customers think while purchasing a new laptop.
3. How did you capture the information?
To capture the information I created a report on wufoo.com. This allows me to see all of the data entered in any way I select, e.g. a pie chart
4. Did the activity go according to plan?
Yes, I found out some interesting points as discussed later and found out the main reasons why people buy a laptop online.
5. What would you do differently next time?
Next time I would put the link to a questionnaire onto a popular forum so that I had a lot more data.
6. What did you find out? Facts not analysis at this stage.
9/10 people went to an online shop to compare prices with other laptops
8/10 people use their laptop for work
2/10 people want support on laptops they currently own
0/10 people look to spending less than £300
8/10 people want to buy a laptop from a shop and not online
7. Any surprises?
I was surprised that 8/10 people would rather buy their laptops from a shop instead of from an online store despite 8/10 people being able to give benefits to buying online.
8. Any unanswered questions?
If I could re-create the questionnaire I would add in questions about what they like about buying laptops from a store, is it have a sales representative selling things to you? Is it a lack of understanding so they will trust someone to tell them what they need?
9. Was this the best way to elicit this type of information? Alternatives techniques?
This was a very suitable way to elicit this information. An alternative could be going to the town centre and asking the people face to face. The answers given might be slightly different.
10. Is your data reliable and valid?
The data gathered could be ambiguous as the people answering the questionnaire could answer the questions to what they think I want them to answer. As the questionnaire is anonymous, the answers given have more chance of being honest as they know that the information isn’t going to come back to haunt them at a later date.
There is a problem with the sample of people that have filled this questionnaire out as it was done through Facebook. This means that they are most likely going to be under 25 and have a good internet knowledge. This means that the questionnaire is not valid to people that are older than 25.
The questions can also be misleading. This is due to having multiple choice answers. As I have written answers for them, they are only picking one off of that list instead of thinking about what they actually do.