Research project help/suggestions

[TJTHEBEST]

I'm going to do my senior thesis project on homebrewing. My plan is make a survey and post it here and have all you guys take the survey (yes there will be an incentive!). Only thing is im not sure exactly how i should word the questions in my survey.

The purpose of my study is to find out if the people that have more elaborate/expensive equipment actually brew more beer than people with less expensive equipment. I also want to see if people save money on making their own beer. Or to see if money really matters to people.

Some of the question that im thinking are going to be in my survey are:

How much have you spent on your brewing equipment?
How much (gallons) do you brew?
Do you brew more than when you started out with the basic equipment?
Do you brew beer to save money?
What is your average batch cost and size?

Thats all i have for now. I would appreciate any suggestions or comments or even a different direction i should go in.

Thanks,
TJ

 

[oldmate]

Not sure how similar your project will be to my thesis, but any involvement by outside parties needs ethics clearance... well at least that's the rule at my uni

 

[TJTHEBEST]

Not sure how similar your project will be to my thesis, but any involvement by outside parties needs ethics clearance... well at least that's the rule at my uni

Ya im writing up my research plan for submittle to the ethics board as we speak.

 

[jimmystewart]

Ya im writing up my research plan for submittle to the ethics board as we speak.

Don't forget to run speling and gramar check on your thesis before submission.

...just sayin'...

 

[TJTHEBEST]

Don't forget to run speling and gramar check on your thesis before submission.

...just sayin'...

Wow good idea! How have i made it to my last semester of college without knowing this? Your a life saver my friend.

 

[Wetfoot]

Maybe ask how much people spend on commercial beer (ouch). Then compare homebrewed to purchased beer.

 

[runningweird]

you're going to have a hard time getting concrete info on the money side of things, I think many people on here either purposefully lose track of expense records or try to forget them, getting a realistic answer could be tricky. I for one have spent far too much money on gear and grain, but if you asked I couldn't give you a figure that was anywhere near accurate.

 

[TJTHEBEST]

Maybe ask how much people spend on commercial beer (ouch). Then compare homebrewed to purchased beer.

you're going to have a hard time getting concrete info on the money side of things, I think many people on here either purposefully lose track of expense records or try to forget them, getting a realistic answer could be tricky. I for one have spent far too much money on gear and grain, but if you asked I couldn't give you a figure that was anywhere near accurate.

thanks for the feedback

 

[kosmokramer]

what is your major, i just finished min for org management on how transformational vs transactional management styles affect productivity. i would have been alot more into it if i could have focused it on homebrewing!

 

[TJTHEBEST]

what is your major, i just finished min for org management on how transformational vs transactional management styles affect productivity. i would have been alot more into it if i could have focused it on homebrewing!

geography.. which is basically the study of everything.

 

[TJTHEBEST]

So are there any other comments.. I may change the questions a little, maybe have categories for equipment expense 0-250, 250-1000, 1000 and over. something like that

 

[McGarnigle]

Are you using Survey Monkey or something like that?

I'd tighten those ranges a bit. You can leave things open-ended and code/tally yourself if you don't have a ton of respondents.

Don't just ask "do you brew to save money?" Maybe list several reasons and have that one (3- or 5-point scale). Try to avoid Yes vs. No response lists. They over-simplify.

Of course, if you ask how many gallons they brew, give them a time scale.Either pre-code the list or have them enter, but don't let people enter ranges, trust me ("Use your best estimate").

If you use scales, have them all go in the same order, all with the 'best' as the first listed choice. Don't flip scales.

"How important are each of the following in reasons you began homebrewing?" 5 points...Extremely to Not at All.
--Saving money
--Not satisfied with quality of commercial beer
--Trying different styles
--Like making my own...
--Friend got me involved

....

 

[McGarnigle]

Also, what resources did you use to learn (books, HBF, friends, club) keeping in mind posting here is biased.

Some sort of profile. List statements, (maybe 5-point scale....Agree strongly, agree somewhat...)
-I am a big fan of craft beer/microbrewies
-I like to cook
-I am a DIYer (rig my own stuff...something like that)
-I make my own wine/cider/jam/cheese....

Gets you at the types of homebrewers, and you can categorize. Maybe read other responses by this. It would be interesting to see the differences.

(I do market research for a living).

 

[TJTHEBEST]

Wow thanks! that helps alot. ya im planning on using survey monkey.

This is a big help. Im actually smiling right now lol.