Survey for Outdoor Lovers

[Valerie Boshoer]

Dear Backpackinglight community,

My name is Valerie and currently I am an MBA student in Columbia University. I am huge fan of backpacking and any outdoor activities, so I have decided to research Backpacking market for one of my MBA classes. I would highly appreciate if some of you find 10 min of your time to help me with this survey. It is only 24 questions, but it will help me a lot to learn more about the Outdoor Market.

The survey is completely anonymous. https://columbia.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_cUYcyboQW1nUZSd

I would highly appreciate for any help!

Sincerely,
Valerie

[Paul Wagner]

I tried, Valerie.

But since I am 60 and not a hipster of any kind…and I live in California, your survey didn't give me some options.

And your questions about internet travel sources are badly written. As someone who writes surveys for real, I can tell you that you won't get very good information out of those questions…

[Max Dilthey]

Happy to help! Good luck!

I almost ended up at Columbia for a masters this year. Funny!

[Steve Davis]

filling it out now. the state question seems to be messed up. i am from CA, but put "other"

[Joe Lynch]

I had technical problems that prevented me from finishing the survey.

[Dena Kelley]

I had no problems doing the survey however I agree with the former poster that your classification of "hipster" etc. was limiting. I didn't fall into any of the categories you have, you should at least put an "other" and allow people to fill in a blank.

[James Couch]

Started to fill out the survey but quit. To many questions limit your choices and I don't fit the answers at all. Also ages skew young, having an answer of 45+ as the only range above 45 will greatly limit your data sets. I think you will find that a HUGE number of respondents will fall in that age range, should have broken it down past the 45 year range more.

[Valerie Boshoer]

Thank you everyone for the feedback. It helps me a lot. I agree that my questions a limitted in a way. I have created them in mind to target very specific archetype, but it proved me wrong. Interesting to see the feedback and the way it can shift the research. I do agree that there are many backpackers 50+. However, I was not sure if they are the ones I should target, since many of them like to plan a trip themselves. Based on everyone's recommendations, I will change the survey quastions to accomodate larger grpuop of people. In addition, I think my research should target more general public rather than backpackers. Some folks here brought up many good points in regards to data base of trails, weather conditions, etc. Something i did not consider before.

If you do have any more suggestions regarding the survey please let me know. I am always happy to hear them out.

Sincerely,
Valerie

[Valerie Boshoer]

Paul,

Do you have specific recommendations on phrasing some of the questions?

I would highly appreciate your help.

Thank you,
Valerie

[Valerie Boshoer]

Max,

Why almost? :(

[Valerie Boshoer]

Dena,

Thank you for the feedback. Will do.

-Valerie

[Eric Blumensaadt]

I'm 70 and "45+" absolutely is not going to get you meaningful data. There are a LOT of us over 60 that still backpack regularly.

Decade-wide demographics are far better and half decade cuts better yet.

[Dean F.]

Also, the questions don't seem to differentiate between "travel" and "hiking." Those are two very different activities to me.

I'll also agree that I'm not a "hipster," nor do I fit any other category listed very well.

Will many "corporate workers" not also be "careerists?"

How are "backcountry lover" and "mountaineer" synonymous?

Very few people can design a good, unbiased poll. And we can't tell you how to make a better one without knowing what the poll is for, which would bias all of us as respondents. It's tough.

[Larry De La Briandais]

This:

"Describe your process for planning a trip (Part 2) – describe your process in detail."

is not a survey question. Unless I have a very good reason, I am not going to spend 15+ minutes describing that in detail.

This question is used as the heading to a gird of poll questions, but it has a simple answer (Yes or No). I have no idea what that question has to do with the grid questions.

"This day and age we cannot help but notice the overabundance of information for planning a travel or experience route scattered throughout numerous blogs and websites. Do you agree?"

BTW, sometimes trip planning is a breeze, and sometimes is it difficult. Sometimes the information I need is easy to find, and sometimes I can't what I want to know, and I am good with Google searches. So, with that information, how would I answer your questions? Basically, I can't.

[Emily Lisborg]

I also found the options extremely limiting. Didn't fit into one of the "career" categories, and the travel options were restrictive. For those who travel often, it is sometimes in big chunks of time, i.e. 3+ months, and in the time spent at home, there aren't many weekend getaways. Your survey does not offer options for this.

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