Survey Data analysis - Coursework Example

Section A Part 2: Survey Data Analysis This survey data gives information about the study methods studying at the Anglia Ruskin (ARU). The sample size for this data set is 94. Their demographics can be described in terms of campus of study, age, whether they are working and which position/level they are employed in. Of the 94 people, 45.7% of the respondents were from Cambridge and the rest were from Chelmsford. The age break-up of the random sample can be illustrated in the following graph.Figure 1: Age demographics of the respondents from ARUTaking this sample to be representative of the population at ARU, we can conclude that 60% of the students were under the age of 30 and hence, the student population is mostly young.

A large majority (94%) of the students work and of these, 83% were sponsored by their organizations to study at the college. The level in an organization at which most of these worked at can be defined in the following graph.Figure 2: Stage in the organizational hierarchyOf these working students, 9% have worked 0 years in HR, 17% have worked 1-1.5 years, 18% worked 2-2.5 years, 13% worked 3-3.5 years, 6% worked 4-4.5 years while 35% have worked 5 years and more. This shows an equal distribution in the work experience of the students.

8% of the people work in organizations that employ 50 employees or less, 17% in organizations with employees between 50 and 200 while a large majority of 66% works in organizations that employs more than 500 employees. This shows greater orientation of larger organization employees to join HR courses at ARU. Furthermore, 49% of the working students are employed in organizations with HR departments that have 10 or less employees. 34% of the working students are in organizations with HR employees between 11 and 50 and 14% are in organizations with more than 50 HR employees.

3 respondents did not answer the question. 57% of the working students work for the private sector, 35% in the public sector, 7% for non-profits and 1% for university. 35% of the working students study less than 5 hours per week while 57% study 5 hours or more.The students were also questioned about when they study. Majority of the students studied on weekends and the second most popular time was study in the evenings. The following figure displays the common responses and their frequency.Figure 3: Time when students commonly studyStudents were also questioned about what library timings they preferred.

22% wanted the timing on the weekends to be extended, 37% wanted the 24 hour model while 31% were satisfied with the original timings. This shows that the majority wanted more flexibility with regard to their study timings in the library. Students live at an average of 17.24 miles from the campus while 45% of the students were 15 miles or less from campus.How often students use the different library resources is shown in the following graph.Figure 4: Use of library resourcesAmong other useful online resources, ACAS was the most commonly mentioned with 15 mentions, followed by Google with 11 mentions.

Most of the comments of study constraints referred to time constraints caused by work/life balance issues and demands of long working hours and busy family or social life.Regarding how the students found out about this particular course, the data is summarized in the table below.Table 1: Source of awareness of this courseEmployer/managerColleagueBillboard/ posterAt an Open DayCIPD websiteGoogle/search engineAnglia Ruskin website11281124722It can be concluded that people learnt about this course through word-of-mouth more than through advertisements.

Furthermore, with respect to which of these sources the students consider to be most effective, it can be said that the ARU website, the prospectus, recommendation of the course leader and recommendation of course administrator were considered most effective sources. The rating that was allotted to each of these sources can be summarized in the table below.Table 2: Ratings allotted to sources of information12345Average RatingEmployer/manager381419822.04Colleague/co-worker304221692.63Open Day331015992.

36CIPD open evening34518952.24CIPD website13162316122.98Anglia Ruskin website492826183.53Prospectus852523183.48Course leader531522364.00Course administrator1372316243.37Most students considered communication in the course to be very good and helpful.