Analysis of Questionnaire Results

Myself, along with the rest of the class conducted a survey to question other members of the student body about what they would like to see in a college magazine, and if they would even read or it or not.
With the first question that I asked, I discovered that 95% of the people that were surveyed did not read the current college magazine. This clearly indicated that the college magazine was not meeting the wants or needs of its target audience, so already I had established that to make a successful college magazine, its current form would have to change.
Despite the majority of people not reading the college magazine, when asked what they would like to see in the college magazine, most people had lots of interesting ideas. A couple of the ideas were that the magazine should include general college information and news happening within the college. The idea of including a college events page also sprung up which I believe would be a very valuable contribution to the magazine. Other ideas for content of this magazine also branched into specific person’s interests and hobby’s such as fashion and even gaming. If we were to include a small section in the magazine for certain interests such as these, more people may become attracted into reading it. One final point which personally believe is an excellent idea, is for there to be a section for local part time jobs. This would be a fantastic way for local businesses to make students aware of jobs aimed at them.
The idea to include subject information in the magazine such as, teacher’s tips and help with some work was also fairly popular with 65% of the people questioned agreeing that it should be included.
One of the most popular ideas for the college’s magazine was to include a ‘What’s On’ section. This would include all of the events that might be relevant to students in local towns e.g. gigs and student parties. With 85 % of people agreeing with the idea then it would be criminal to not include this section in the magazine.
Another interesting thing I discovered from conducting my survey was that 70% of people were willing to pay up to 50 pence to buy the magazine. This is fantastic as the money earned from selling copies of the magazine could then be reimbursed, to make the next issue even better. I also think that local businesses could advertise in the magazine to gain even more funds. These adverts would have to suitable for college students though. IF the magazine refused to provide advertising space in the magazine, I believe it would be a good opportunity missed.
Another response from the questionnaire I received was that some people felt that making the magazine free would encourage them to read it. However, this may not be financially viable as with no funds, the quality of the magazine would really suffer. A solution for this could be to make the first issue free. This would be a great way in attracting new readers of the magazine, and showing them the potential it has. They may then continue to buy it in the future.
Another interesting concept that was suggested was to give away free stuff. They said this would encourage them to buy the magazine. Although giving away free things for no reason didn’t seem logical, the idea came to me to include a competition every issue. I feel this would be a great way to attract new readers, particularly if the prizes linked with the some of the people’s interest and hobbies (as mentioned before).
The idea for people to subscribe to the magazine also popped up when constructing our questionnaires. However 80% of the students questioned said they would not subscribe to the magazine if given the chance. Although I feel that the chance to subscribe is a great idea, I have to cohere with the majority of people. If 80% of people aren’t going to subscribe to the magazine, then this could well be a pointless service to offer.
The final thing that had to establish was how often the magazine would be published. My personal thoughts on the matter were that it should be every fortnight, but when given the options, the majority of the student body disagreed with me. Instead a monthly magazine was the most popular choice with only a handful of people agreeing with my idea for a fortnightly magazine. Although at first I didn’t agree with this idea, I quickly came round to it as I realised the benefits it would bring. A month would give the magazine makers plenty of time to gather enough information to make the next issue as good as it can be. And it would also give the previous issue a lot of time to properly circulate around the college and to far more students.