Surveys Communication

In this case, “Inquiring Minds Want to Know —Now!” (Schindler & Cooper, 2011), Penton Media relied on self-administered survey to gather information from subscribers. The questionnaire is sent to subscribers through mail. The basic concept of survey research involves capturing beliefs, attitudes, or outcomes that can be generalized to a population from which the sample was selected (Alderman & Salem, 2010, pg. 1381). Self-administered survey allows enough time for participants to complete the survey. In addition, it enables Penton Media to maximize participation as subscribers could include more than one input. Before, Penton Media send the questionnaire out; some preliminary studies have been conducted such as sample and questionnaire pre-testing. The relevance of data that would be collected depends on the effectiveness of a sample and questionnaire pretesting (Etchegaray & Fischer, 2011). In doing so, Penton Media pre-tested its questionnaire by phone with a small sample drawn from 1.7 million subscribers. In pre-testing the questionnaire, questions that respondents have difficulty understanding or interpret differently than the researcher intended are identified; thus giving the researcher the opportunity to adjust (Krosnick, 1999, pg. 541).

In addition, Penton Media pre-tested its participants by sending mail to 300 subscribers. Another preliminary study that has proven its importance in Penton’s survey is the work that brought up the managerial question. In effect, Penton Media make a critical comparison of year 1992 and 1997 ads, which has shown some interesting facts and changes in the subscribers’ behaviors. For the sample to be representative of the population, the survey must record a high participation of subscribers (Krosnick, 1999, pg. 539); thus the surveyor must not only provide advance notice to subscribers (Bryson, Turgeon & Choi, 2012, pg.738), but also the questionnaire must include an incentive as a motivator. Penton Media did carefully send an advance notice to its subscribers stating the purpose of the survey as well as a possibility to win a hand-held colored TV as incentive. As strong Penton Media’s survey could be, it shows some signs of weakness.

The survey is conducted internally only. In choosing the sample within its subscribers, Penton Media restricted the survey internally. This might greatly affect the result, as it could not include some factors that are making other advertisement companies successful. Penton Media also failed to truthfully state the purpose of the survey. It is unethical to say that the survey is being conducted for executives while it is conducted to find the reasons of the decrease of the business. 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?

In analyzing the survey, Penton Media would use a database to record subscribers’ answers. However, the base needs to be appropriately set up. Data collected must be coded and only the code is entered in the database. The answers are grouped together in order to sort out the frequency of data collected. Depending on the purpose of the survey and the kind of decision to be made, a proper analysis would be performed, which should bring light to top managers.

References

Alderman, A., & Salem, B. (2010). Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov’t, 126(4), 1381-1389. Retrieved from

http://rx9vh3hy4r.search.serialssolutions.com/?ctx_ver=Z39.882004&ctx_enc=info%3Aofi%2Fenc%3AUTF8&rfr_id=info:sid/summon.serialssolutions.com&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Survey+Research&rft.jtitle=Plastic+and+Reconstructive+Surgery&rft.au=Alderman%2C+Amy+K&rft.au=Salem%2C+Barbara&rft.date=20101001&rft.issn=00321052&rft.eissn=15294242&rft.volume=126&rft.issue=4&rft.spage=1381&rft.epage=1389&rft_id=info:doi/10.1097%2FPRS.0b013e3181ea44f9&rft.externalDBID=n%2Fa&rft.externalDocID=10_1097_PRS_0b013e3181ea44f9¶mdict=en-US Bryson, G. L., M.D., Turgeon, A. F., M.D., & Choi, P. T., M.D. (2012). The science of opinion: Survey methods in research. Canadian Journal of Anesthesia, 59(8), 736-42. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12630-012-9727-3

Cooper, D., & Schindler, P., (2013). Surveys. Business Research Methods, 12th ed. Pg. 218. McGraw-Hill Higher Education -A. Kindle Edition. Schindler, P. S., Cooper, D. R. (2011). Inquiring Minds Want to Know —Now! Business Research Methods 11ed pg. 1-8. Retrieved from

http://learn.liberty.edu/bbcswebdav/pid3611158dtcontentrid23771085_1/courses/BUSI600_B02_201440/InquiringMindsWanttoKnowNow.pdf Etchegaray, J. M., PhD., & Fischer, Wayne G,M.S., PhD. (2011). Understanding evidence-based research methods: Pilot testing surveys. HERD : Health Environments Research & Design Journal, 4(4), 143-147. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/docview/894513488?pq-origsite=summon Krosnick, J. A. (1999). Survey research. Annual Review of Psychology, 50, 537-67. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/docview/205847042?pq-origsite=summon