In article ,
NaomiH writes:
|
| Hi I am very new to this whole forum thing so please make me aware if I
| breach any protocols that I am not aware of!

Probably the Data Protection Act, for a start, and good statistical
practice, for another.

There is nothing wrong with your questions, and they are arguably
even on-topic for this group, but it is clear that you don't know
about the above. Your supervisor SHOULD have advised you how to
go about this - please feel free to contact me directly if you
would like some help (I am competent in both areas). But I won't
respond to anonymous Email.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 1 Jun 2008 12:25:04 GMT, (Nick Maclaren) wrote:


In article ,
NaomiH writes:
|
| Hi I am very new to this whole forum thing so please make me aware if I
| breach any protocols that I am not aware of!

Probably the Data Protection Act, for a start, and good statistical
practice, for another.

There is nothing wrong with your questions, and they are arguably
even on-topic for this group, but it is clear that you don't know
about the above. Your supervisor SHOULD have advised you how to
go about this - please feel free to contact me directly if you
would like some help (I am competent in both areas). But I won't
respond to anonymous Email.


Is there really a problem with the DPA? None of these answers would
include any personally identifiable data.

In article ,
writes:
|
| Is there really a problem with the DPA? None of these answers would
| include any personally identifiable data.

The Email addresses provide the link. Forgetting that is perhaps the
most common mistake made with online surveys and the DPA. Yes, it is
possible to do them according to the DPA (in more than one way), but
you need to know the rituals.

There isn't a problem in this case, if it is done right, but it is
very rare for that sort of circulated questionnaire to do them right
behind the scenes. All of the indicators point to someone who has
not been well advised.

Of course, even with Email addresses, who would give a damn? The
responses are WAY away from being sensitive personal data. But,
regrettably, that isn't what the law says, and some universities
can get a bit uptight.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"NaomiH" wrote in message
...

Hi I am very new to this whole forum thing so please make me aware if I
breach any protocols that I am not aware of!

I am a uni student trying to gather data for my disseration so hoping
you may take the time to answer my below survey. What I am attempting
to establish is what drives people to grow their own food and for those
who do not what could be done to encourage them to, therefore reducing
food miles and reducing land demand. Before I can look at what
governmental strategies could be put in place I need something to
analyse so would appreciate any responses. Thank you kindly.

1) Where do you live? (Town & County)

Town

2) Please highlight any within 15 minutes walking distance of where you
live:

Local Convenience Store / Woodland / Working Farm / Farmers Market

3) Is the property where you live rented or owned?: OWNED

4) Does the property have a garden? YES /

5) Have you ever considered using an allotment? YES /

6) Is it possible to dedicate some of the garden to growing food and
still allow you suitable space to meet your social needs? YES /


8) Do you garden? YES /

9) Please highlight any of the following that you grow:

Flowers / Fruit / Vegetables / Herbs / Maintain Fruiting Trees

10) If YES please highlight your reason for doing so:

/ To Ensure Organic / Tastes Better / To Be Self Sufficient /



12) What would encourage you to grow food/more food?

Bigger grden

13) Are you male or female? / FEMALE

14) What is your working status?:

Retired /

Hi I am very new to this whole forum thing so please make me aware if I breach any protocols that I am not aware of!

I am a uni student trying to gather data for my disseration so hoping you may take the time to answer my below survey. What I am attempting to establish is what drives people to grow their own food and for those who do not what could be done to encourage them to, therefore reducing food miles and reducing land demand. Before I can look at what governmental strategies could be put in place I need something to analyse so would appreciate any responses. Thank you kindly.

1) Where do you live? (Town & County)

2) Please highlight any within 15 minutes walking distance of where you live:

Local Convenience Store / Local Village / Town Centre / City Centre /
Woodland / Working Farm / Country Side / Allotments / Local Market / Farmers Market

3) Is the property where you live rented or owned?: RENTED / OWNED

4) Does the property have a garden? YES / NO

5) Have you ever considered using an allotment? YES / NO

6) Is it possible to dedicate some of the garden to growing food and still allow you suitable space to meet your social needs? YES / NO

7) If you rent are you able to change the garden? YES / NO

8) Do you garden? YES / NO

9) Please highlight any of the following that you grow:

Flowers / Fruit / Vegetables / Herbs / Maintain Fruiting Trees

10) If YES please highlight your reason for doing so:

Hobbie / To Ensure Organic / Tastes Better / To Be Self Sufficient / To Save Money / Reduce Amount of Shopping / If Other Please State

11) If NO please indicate why:

Not An Interest / Lack of Time / Lack of Knowledge / Not Enough Space / If Other Please State

12) What would encourage you to grow food/more food?

13) Are you male or female? MALE / FEMALE

14) What is your working status?:

Full Time Employee / Part Time Employee / Self Employed / Full Time
Education / Part Time Education / Retired / Full Time Parent / Currently Not Working


If you got this far then I send you my deepest gratitude!

Hi, just wanted to thank Mary for completing my questionnaire it is much appreciated.

Just wanted to confirm for the record that the questionnaire has been approved by the Ethics Committee at Oxford Brookes University.

Any additional responses will only be added to a spreadsheet and used for my statistical analysis in the report.

Many thanks

Naomi

Do you have other / further questionnaires? It does not seem to me that from these questions you could possibly establish what drives people to grown their own food. For instance, you do not ask if they have a family background of vegetable and fruit growing. Nor do you establish if their financial situation forces them to do this or not.

Yes I know it is difficult, by asking people their type of employment people is my way of trying to determine peoples financial situation, as it is not ethical to ask how much people earn therefore this was removed by the ethics committee to minimise any offence it may cause to people.

My main focus of my report is based up two planning methods, the compact city that involves cramming as much into one area as possible and the green city that ensures gardens are provided as well as green spaces. By trying to determine if space is a huge driving factor for self sufficiency it will give a strong indication to which planning theory is the most sustainable.

In addition I am also trying to establish whether peoples communities are largely responsible for how they live, this is the reason for asking what is local to you. What I am hoping to understand is if by living close to a Working Farm it provides people a better understanding of living directly form the land and those who are close to the city centre are less likely to because of the convenience around them.

Valid points which have been noted, until you start you cannot quite grasp how people will interpret what you think is a well structured survey. There are changes I would like to make already but unfortunately I can only now proceed!

Thanks for taking the time to help.

Naomi