Questionnaire Design Assignment

Questionnaire Design

1. I’m applying for a job with a market research organisation and I have

been asked to develop a questionnaire as part of my portfolio. I’m going to

focus my research on students of Ballyfermot College. My hypothesis is

“Unhealthy Canteen food effects students consentration”. The variable that

we manipulate is called the independent variable in this case is the

unhealthy canteen food and the dependent variable is the students whose

concentration are effected by it.

2. This research is very important concerning college students.

Ballyfermot is the one college in particular that will be asked. Students are

our main targets in this study because we find it essential to approach

them; it can have an effect on their grades and assignments. Ballyfermot

College’s main building is an important college for this research because

of where it’s situated. It is situated in the heart of the main street. There’s

not much of a selection of places around where the students can eat.

Except for a few shops, a café that one must walk to, or a pub with a food

menu, which will probably lead to the students drinking in between

classes. There is also a canteen in the art building that serves hot food,

which again would be a distance away for the students to walk especially if

they have little time before classes. Instead there is a canteen within the

college that does provide those students with food, but we want to find out

from the students themselves how they feel about the types of food it

supplies. We’ll also see from similar researches how they found the foods

we eat effect our brain power and concentration.

The first and most important thing, which people must realise, is that

although our brain is only 2% of our weight, it uses up 20% of our oxygen

intake. This is why the saying “what's good for your heart is good for your

brain” rings true. You can't go wrong with arming your brain with all the

energy and raw materials it needs. This will see you through a successful

day. Praise for our ideas and creativity gives a fantastic feeling.

Research has found that even what eat can cause depression which is

known among many young adults especially when it comes down to the

Name: laura McglynnClass: Mgh1

pressures of meeting college deadlines and exam pressure. Students

need to keep a healthy diet to make them feel good about themselves

because the researches that we ware going to look at shows us how food

even effects are mood on day to day basis.

3. There are good reasons why food affects your mood and brainpower.

Chemicals in the brain can be influenced by what we eat, which can lead to

changes in the way we think, feel and behave.

(A) Research carried out by the Food and Mood Project in England, supported

by the mental health charity “Mind”, has shown that a change of diet can

significantly improve a person’s mental health. This can include reducing the

likelihood of panic attacks, mood swings, and anxiety or depression.

Mood food

Alcohol, caffeine, sugar, chocolate, cakes, biscuits, cheese and bread are the

most common types of foods that cause low moods. Sugar is a known major

cause of altering mood as it gives your blood an instant sugar rush. This is

followed by a drop in mood and energy an hour or so later, which can lead to

poor concentration, anxiety, irritability, aggression, tiredness and depression.

The Glycaemic Index (GI) is a numerical system that tells you how fast a

particular food causes a rise in your blood sugar levels. A food with a high GI

will produce a sudden rush in blood sugar while a food with a low GI will keep

it more stable.

Not getting enough vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids (Omega 3 oils)

in your diet can have an effect on your mood too. Try to eat more oily fish,

such as salmon, sardines and mackerel, which are high in omega 3 fatty acids

and also help the brain function more efficiently.

Serotonin is the brain chemicals, which can make you feel happy and relaxed.

But it is also responsible for mood, sleep and controlling your appetite. White

meat like turkey and chicken, and fish are mood-boosting foods that produce

serotonin, which can be low in people who have depression. Foods also high


in vitamin B, such as bananas and avocados, can be beneficial to your mood

as they convert an amino acid called tryptophen into serotonin. By eating

these kinds of food you are helping your body produce more serotonin. Also, if

you regularly exercise you’ll recognise the feel-good factor you get afterwards.

This is due to a release of serotonin within your brain.

Brain food

Vitamins are essential in maintaining both physical and mental health. For

example, iron deficiency, a common problem particularly among women, is

linked to slowed mental ability and depression. It is essential that you get a

wide variety of foods to fulfil your bodies vitamin needs.

Other factors that can affect your brainpower are food intolerances or

reactions to chemicals like food colourings and flavourings, for example E

numbers

Eating at regular intervals, not skipping breakfast, and getting enough sleep

are good ways to boost your mental health. Choose foods that are digested

slowly. Wholegrain rye bread, porridge, pasta, beans lentils, noodles and

basmati rice are good choices and contain a low GI and are especially

beneficial for those with diabetes. Apples, oranges, pears and peaches are

other good options.

What you drink also plays a part. Caffeine in coffee, tea and cola drinks can

cause anxiety, depression and nervousness. Try cutting down and switching

to water or fruit tea for every other drink during the day.

(b) The Perils of Higher Ed by Stephen Kotler, an amreican study of college

life. (College life can be downright detrimental. Sleep deprivation, a bad

diet and binge drinking can lead you to memory loss, alcoholism and

even Alzheimer's.)

We go to college to learn, to soak up a dazzling array of information intended

to prepare us for adult life. But college is not simply a data dump; it is also the

end of parental supervision. For many students, that translates into four years


of late nights, pizza banquets and boozy weekends that start on Wednesday.

And while we know that bad habits are detrimental to cognition in general—

think drunk driving—new studies show that the undergrad urges to eat, drink

and be merry have devastating effects on learning and memory. It turns out

that the exact place we go to get an education may in fact be one of the worst

possible environments in which to retain anything we've learned.

Walk into any college cafeteria and you'll find a smorgasbord of French fries,

greasy pizza, burgers, potato chips and the like. On top of that, McDonald's,

Burger King, Wendy's and other fast-food chains have been gobbling up

campus real estate. With hectic schedules and skinny budgets, students find

fast food an easy alternative. A Tufts University survey found that 50 percent

of students eat too much fat, and 70 to 80 percent eat too much saturated fat.

Normal human beings spend one-third of their lives asleep, but today's

college students aren't normal. A survey of undergraduates and medical

students at Stanford University found 80 percent of them qualified as sleep-

deprived, and a poll taken by the National Sleep Foundation found that most

young adults get only 6.8 hours a night.

All-night cram fests may seem to be the only option when the end of the

semester looms, but in fact getting sleep—and a full dose of it—might be a

better way to ace exams.


Questionnaire

1. Are you male or female?

2. Do you eat from your college canteen?

3. What kind of food would you eat from it?

4. The Canteen food is healthy.

Strongly Disagree Uncertain Agree Strongly

disagree agree

5. Food effects your concentration and mood swings.


disagree agree

6. Nutritious food gives you more brainpower.

True/False

7. Additives give you more energy.

True/False


8. Foods with Omega 3 oil help you to concentrate.

Yes/No

9. Your breakfast is the most important meal of the day.


disagree agree

10. Processed food is not nutritious.


disagree agree

11. Canteen food is better than restaurant food.


disagree agree

12. Dark chocolate helps you study better.

Yes/No

13. Drinking coffee gives you more energy than drinking water.

True/False

14. Why don't you use the canteen services? (circle one):

A. It’s too expensive.

B. Service is very bad.

C. Don’t have enough healthy food.

D. The food quality is poor.

E. Other (please explain): _______________


15. What types of food would you like to see being served? (Circle one)

A. Vegetarian

B. Curry Indian/Chinese

C. Home made soup

D. Fish

E Other (please state) : _______________

16. What would make you use the Canteen? (Circle one)

A. Better Value for your money

B. Option of cold and hot food e.g. paninis

C. Better service

D. Variety of food

E. Other (please explain): ______________

17. Why would you use the canteen before college? (Circle one)

A. Good Healthy breakfast

B. No other facilities around.

C. More inclined to be on time for college

D. Promotional offers e.g. free toast when you buy a cup of tea

E. Other (please state): ____________


18. How would you rate the hygiene of the canteen?

Excellent good bad poor

19. What foods do think is best to have before an exam

A. Chocolate

B. Fruit

C. Pasta

D. Coffee

E. Other (please state)____________________

20. How much money would you spend a week in the canteen?

A. €5

B. €10

C. €15

D. €20 or more

21. What percentage of students do you think use the canteen?

A. 10%

B. 20%


C. 30%

D. 50% percent or more

22. How often do you use the canteen?

A. Once a day

B. Twice a week

C. Once a month

D. Not at all

23. What percentage increase of students would use the canteen if food were

served at a café/restaurant standard?

A. 10%

B. 20%

C. 30%

D. 40%

24. What percentage of vegetarians uses the canteen?

A. 5%

B. 10%

C. 15%

D. 25%


25. Please place in order of preference what is important in the running of a

canteen?

__Good quality food

__Good hygiene standards

__Value for money

__Good quality service

26. Place in order of preference of what foods to eat when doing an

assignment?

__Crisps

__Mars bars

__Oatmeal

__Red meat

27. Place in order of preference what foods improve class performance

__Tuna

__Eggs

__Bananas

__Porridge

28. Give your own opinion of the canteen?


29.Are there improvements you’d like to see being done in the canteen?

30. Do you have any other suggestions?

Bibliography

A. Geary (2001), The food and mood handbook, Thorsons.

I. Brace (2004), Questionnaire Design: How to Plan, Structure and Write

Survey Material for Effective Market Research (Market Research in Practice

Series), London: Kogan Page.

L.C. Whitaker, (1989), Parental Concerns in College Student Mental Health,

Philadelphia: Haworth press.

M.J. Smith, (2006) The Smart Student's Guide to Healthy Dorm Living: How to

Survive Stress, Late Nights, and the College Cafeteria, Paperback.


S. Kotler, (2005), The Perils of Higher Ed, Psychology Today Magazine, New

York.


Questionnaire Design Assignment

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