Research Goal:

Our Research goal is to understand why there is a decrease in the faculty/staff number of memberships regarding The Ray Meyer Fitness Recreation Center. Our goal is to understand and gather data in relation to the behaviors that are keeping our target market away from converting to a membership.

Research Objectives:

Our research questions were aimed to find out more about why our target market, faculty/staff is not purchasing memberships to The Ray Meyer Campus Recreation Facility. We want to fully understand them. Therefore we proposed three big research questions. What is getting in the way of the conversion to memberships between faculty/staff users? Is the media coming across? Why is the target market not interested in what the facility has to offer? To answer these questions, on the survey we explored questions that catered to other alternatives.We asked if they practiced any specific fitness practices (that The Ray doesn’t offer) to see if that was where we lost memberships. We explored if knowledge is what is keeping our target market away from the facility. We asked if they knew how to properly use equipment. If they knew how to carefully prep and cool down the right way before and after a workout. We asked these questions to find out if a portion of the survey takers just weren't up to date on knowledge regarding how to do these things. We set these goals to uncover what the barriers preventing faculty/staff are regarding converting to a membership within The Ray campus facility.Understanding what their struggles and needs are will allow us to inform the Ray communications team on how to alter their strategies to make their messages more effective fo rour target market.

Plans:

For this pilot test, we employed a simple random sampling method. This was chosen to ensure that every faculty and staff member had an equal chance of being selected, there by minimizing bias in our sample. The process involved generating a list of all faculty and staff members eligible to use the gym and then using a random number generator to select respondents from this list. For a full-scale survey with a larger budget, we might opt for a stratified sampling approach. This would involve dividing the population into relevant strata(e.g., by department, tenure status) and then randomly selecting respondents from each stratum.This approach would allow for more precise analysis within specific subgroups of the population. To administer the survey, we utilized the university's email system. First, we obtained permission from the relevant university authorities to conduct the survey. Next, we crafted a clear and concise email invitation explaining the purpose of the survey, assuring confidentiality, and providing a link to the online survey hosted on the Qualtrics platform. The email was sent to all eligible faculty and staff members, with follow-up reminders sent at regular intervals to maximize response rates. Additionally, we made efforts to promote the survey through other channels, such as posters in common areas and student referrals. Finally, we monitored responses and addressed any technical issues or inquiries promptly to maintain data integrity.

Variables and Relationships:

One of the key variables we sought to measure in our survey was respondents’ preferred methods of fitness in a fitness routine. Examples of a fitness method in action could range anywhere from biking to weight training. By gathering data on which of these methods respondents lean towards in their fitness routines, we are able to offer data that not only assesses the target’s current practices, but also the areas which The Ray could focus on to attract the target to a membership. This variable is operationalized in Q3 of the Current Fitness Practices andAlternatives segment by a list-based question providing a variety of options for methods of fitness. Another variable we delved into was attitudes towards fitness, namely how much value do respondents place in the benefit of fitness as a concept. How important is fitness in the respondents’ lives? This variable was operationalized directly in Q9 of the Current FitnessPractices and Alternatives segment, but also indirectly in Q2 and Q6. For the latter two, extreme infrequency of fitness practice would indicate low value in fitness as a concept. In regards to relationships between variables, two that we examined were whether students and faculty who have not visited The Ray were more likely to have an unfavorable opinion of The Ray than those who have, and if students and faculty who do not place importance on fitness to maintain physical health are unlikely to have maintained a fitness routine currently or in the past.

Analysis:

From the survey, our group made the questions to find out their current fitness practices, desires and obstacles and knowledge and perception. Some of the results that we found showed that almost 32% of the results say that they have never been to The Ray despite more than 58% of the people that took the survey stated that consistent physical practice is extremely important to them. This brings me to the second part of the survey where we asked them why they do not visit The Ray and the top 3 responses were 18% saying LPC was inconvenient for them, 17%saying that they didn’t want to exercise with students and 16% saying that they prefer to workout at home or outdoors. We can’t exactly change anything about the location but maybe there could be faculty/staff only class or events on the quad or around campus if they are allowed to. This is exactly what the survey results showed when we asked them about potential features that would interest them to go to The Ray, almost 19% of the results said that faculty/staff classes would interest them to go to The Ray.

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Discussion and Reflection:

The results were similar to what we expected. From the information gathered from our interviews, we are aware that faculty are not utilizing The Ray. Many faculty cited not wanting to exercise around their students. This was reflected in the survey results, where 60% of faculty reported never exercising at The Ray, with many having only been there for a tour. Among the faculty who do not attend The Ray, half indicated they would be open to taking staff-only classes, while the other half showed no interest, which was surprising.

Our questions were effective in determining who is attending The Ray and identifying ways to make it more appealing to faculty. However, the survey may have had shortcomings in terms of length and the necessity of certain questions. With 35 questions, many faculty members were ruled out from the start, making the survey excessive for those to whom it did not apply. This likely led to lower response rates for certain questions, as evidenced by question 22, which received only five responses. In the future, we might consider creating two separate surveys: one for those who attend The Ray to gather feedback on improvements and another for faculty who do not attend to explore ways to pique their interest.

Reflecting on the experience of formulating a questionnaire and conducting a survey, I found the process both insightful and challenging. The results were consistent with our expectations, revealing key insights into faculty usage of The Ray. Specifically, many faculty members expressed reluctance to exercise around students, which was corroborated by our survey findings: 60% of faculty have never exercised at The Ray, with many having only been there fora tour. Among those who do not attend, half expressed openness to staff-only classes, while the other half showed no interest, which was somewhat surprising.

To improve the survey process in the future, I would make several changes:

1. Separate Surveys

Create two separate surveys—one for those who attend The Ray and another for those who do not. This would allow us to tailor questions more specifically toeach group's experiences and needs, making the survey more relevant and less cumbersome for participants.

2. Relevance of Questions:

Ensure that each question is directly relevant to the respondent's experience. By doing so, we can avoid overwhelming participants with unnecessary questions and increase the likelihood of complete responses.

3. Survey Length:

Aim to reduce the overall length of the survey. A shorter, more focused survey is more likely to be completed fully, providing us with more comprehensive data