Question

A college would like to determine how many students eat in the cafeteria and what they typically order. List the ways that this information could be obtained. Which method is best and why?

Marketing Research

Answer 1

College can use a number of ways to determine the number of students eat in the cafeteria and what they typically order. Some of them are below.

Online survey: College can conduct an online survey among the students to gather the information.

Direct interview: College can arrange someone in the cafeteria to conduct interview with the students who visit the cafeteria and ask questions regarding their usage and preferences.

Questionnaire: College can prepare a questionnaire regarding required information and give to the people who visit the cafeteria to fill.

Data from the invoice register: College can check the cafeteria invoice register to understand the trend based on the past month sales.

I would suggest the online survey because online survey is less costly and fast. The participants can fill the data from anywhere within less time and it is easy to analyze the results in a spreadsheet. Direct interview is more time taking and the participant may not provide honest opinion. Questionnaires also costly compared to online survey because of the cost of pen, paper, printing etc. Moreover the students may not like to fill the forms while having their food. The secondary sources like invoice registers show past trend and the trend may change according to seasons and other factors. But online surveys will help to gather current and updated information easily. The only challenge is getting enough participation, but the same can be ensured by convincing the students about the benefit of the survey.