Collecting Data (Video 7)

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From the course by University of Pennsylvania

English for Business and Entrepreneurship

1177 ratings

University of Pennsylvania

English for Business and Entrepreneurship

1177 ratings

Welcome to English for Business and Entrepreneurship, a course created by the University of Pennsylvania, and funded by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, Office of English Language Programs. To enroll in this course for free, click on “Enroll now” and then select "Full Course. No certificate." This course is designed for non-native English speakers who are interested in learning more about the global business economy. In this course, you will learn about topics and language necessary to succeed in the international workplace. You will explore business English through authentic readings and video lectures, while learning about business vocabulary, concepts, and issues. Unit 1 will provide an introduction to entrepreneurship by examining ideas, products, and opportunities. In unit 2, you will learn about the basics of market research, including how to identify an opportunity. The next unit in the course will focus on business plans, why these plans are important, and will give you a chance to practice composing a business plan. In the final unit of the course, we will present basics for funding a business and will help you create a persuasive presentation, or pitch, based on a business plan. Unless otherwise noted, all course materials are available for re-use, repurposing and free distribution under a Creative Commons 4.0 Attribution license. Supplemental reading materials were provided by Newsela, which publishes daily news articles at a level that's just right for each English language learner.

From the lesson

Unit 2: Identifying an Opportunity

This unit will cover how to do market research to determine whether a new product presents an opportunity in a market. We will focus on surveys and questions.

Collecting Data (Video 7)5:15

Evaluating Results (Video 8)6:51

Unlockable Achievement0:09

Completing Assessment 2 (Video 9 Part 1)6:08

Completing Assessment 2 (Video 9 Part 2)1:51

Meet the Instructors

Amy Nichols
Manager of International Research and Program Development
English Language Programs
James Riedel
Executive Director
English Language Programs

Welcome to Unit 2 Video 7, Collecting Data.

In this video we will discuss finding respondents and

we will compare written and spoken surveys.

Let's start by discussing respondents.

Finding and choosing respondents can be challenging

because respondents have to give their time to answer the survey questions.

Many people will say no to a stranger,

especially if they think it will take too much time.

Often people in parks, coffee shops, or community centers

are more willing to share their time since they are already relaxing.

There are two important things to consider when choosing respondents,

number and variety.

The more people, the better.

75% of respondents would be interested in buying my product

is a more persuasive statement when there are 100 respondents instead of four.

75% of a hundred is 75 but 75% of four is only three.

It's important to find respondents with different demographic profiles.

For example, men and women of many different ages.

This can help researchers identify market niches when appropriate.

For example,

young women may not be interested in buying the same product as older men.

Once a market niche has been identified,

then surveys can be created specifically for that group.

Should the researcher use written or spoken surveys?

There are advantages and disadvantages to both.

Let's look at written surveys first.

A written survey is where a respondent receives and answers questions in writing.

This can done on paper or in an electronic file.

What are the advantages?

First, many respondents can complete the survey at the same time.

And therefore it can be easier to collect more data faster.

Second, it's easier to keep a record of individual response in writing.

And finally some respondents might feel more comfortable and

confident doing the survey in writing, it can feel more private.

What are the disadvantages?

First, the researcher has very little interaction with the respondent and

can not judge if the respondent is a good source of data.

Second, respondents may not answer all the questions and the data may be incomplete.

Finally, the biggest disadvantage is the risk that respondents may

not complete or return the survey, wasting the time of the researcher.

Now let's look at spoken surveys.

These are surveys where the researcher reads aloud the questions and

answers to the respondent.

As you can expect,

the advantages are the opposite of the disadvantages of written surveys.

In a spoken survey, the researcher has a lot more interaction with the respondent,

and can judge if the respondent is a good source of data.

Respondents are more likely to answer all the questions and

they can ask for further explanation or information if needed.

Most importantly, they're likely to complete the survey so

that the researcher has the data.

What are the disadvantages of spoken surveys?

First, because they must be done one at a time,

it takes more time and can limit the number of surveys that can be done.

Second, the researcher must take careful notes that

individual responses are recorded accurately and clearly.

Finally, some respondents may not feel confident in English, so

that they would prefer to read the questions in writing.

Let's review the ideas in this video, new product survey data is more objective and

persuasive when there are many respondents and

a large variety in the demographic profiles.

Written surveys are easier to give to many people.

Spoken ones allow for more interaction with the respondents.

For Assessment 2, we strongly recommend that you practice your speaking and

listening skills by using a spoken survey.

In the next video,

we will learn more about how researchers evaluate survey results.

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