Commute to work survey

Maya said:

Hello,

I am conducting research related to people's attitudes towards their
commute
to work or school. I am writing to invite you to take a web-based
survey
which will take about 20 minutes to complete. The link to the survey
is:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=f%2ffhNEVt4UmEfKAzC4QpXA%3d%3d

and can also be found at the following MIT site:

http://mit.edu/its/

The results will contribute to my doctoral thesis at MIT. I would
greatly
appreciate it if you could take the time to fill out this survey.
Please
feel free to forward to other commuters who you know and who you think
may
be interested in participating.

Thanks, in advance, for your interest and cooperation, and please
contact me
if you have any questions.

Maya Abou Zeid
Doctoral student
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
[email hidden]
617-252-1111

My apologies for multi-posting this survey, and sorry if I posted it
to the wrong site.

in message <[email hidden]>, Maya

(') said:

Maya said:

Hello,

I am conducting research related to people's attitudes towards their
commute
to work or school. I am writing to invite you to take a web-based
survey
which will take about 20 minutes to complete. The link to the survey
is:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=f%2ffhNEVt4UmEfKAzC4QpXA%3d%3d

My apologies for multi-posting this survey, and sorry if I posted it
to the wrong site.

I thought your survey was pertinent and on topic for this group. If you've
been getting grief from self appointed net vigilantes, ignore them.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

There are no messages. The above is just a random stream of
bytes. Any opinion or meaning you find in it is your own creation.

Simon Brooke said:

in message <[email hidden]>, Maya

(') said:

Maya said:

I am conducting research related to people's attitudes towards
their commute to work or school. I am writing to invite you to
take a web-based survey which will take about 20 minutes to
complete. The link to the survey is:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=f%2ffhNEVt4UmEfKAzC4QpXA%3d%3d

My apologies for multi-posting this survey, and sorry if I posted it
to the wrong site.

I thought your survey was pertinent and on topic for this group. If you've
been getting grief from self appointed net vigilantes, ignore them.

Agreed, and rather better constructed than most of the surveys that
get advertised.

My only niggle would be that some of the bike commute questions seem
to assume that no-one would ever ride a bike on the road. At least
one question refers to the state of the paths I ride on and number of
pedestrians and cyclists on them. There is no option to say I don't
ride on paths. Likewise, there's a question that says do I ride
beside cars, and I'm not sure if that means roadside path or road.

regards, Ian SMith
--
|\ /| no .sig
|o o|
|/ \|

Ian Smith said:

Simon Brooke said:

in message <[email hidden]>, Maya

(') said:

On Aug 15, 9:22 pm, Maya <[email hidden]> wrote:
> I am conducting research related to people's attitudes towards
> their commute to work or school. I am writing to invite you to
> take a web-based survey which will take about 20 minutes to
> complete. The link to the survey is:
>
> https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=f%2ffhNEVt4UmEfKAzC4QpXA%3d%3d
My apologies for multi-posting this survey, and sorry if I posted it
to the wrong site.

I thought your survey was pertinent and on topic for this group. If you've
been getting grief from self appointed net vigilantes, ignore them.

Agreed, and rather better constructed than most of the surveys that
get advertised.

My only niggle would be that some of the bike commute questions seem
to assume that no-one would ever ride a bike on the road. At least
one question refers to the state of the paths I ride on and number of
pedestrians and cyclists on them. There is no option to say I don't
ride on paths. Likewise, there's a question that says do I ride
beside cars, and I'm not sure if that means roadside path or road.

Is that because it's a merkin survey?

marc said:

Ian Smith said:

Quoted message said:

> On Aug 15, 9:22 pm, Maya <[email hidden]> wrote:
>> https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=f%2ffhNEVt4UmEfKAzC4QpXA%3d%3d

My only niggle would be that some of the bike commute questions seem
to assume that no-one would ever ride a bike on the road. At least
one question refers to the state of the paths I ride on and number of
pedestrians and cyclists on them. There is no option to say I don't
ride on paths. Likewise, there's a question that says do I ride
beside cars, and I'm not sure if that means roadside path or road.

Is that because it's a merkin survey?

Quite possibly, but it's not exclusively so - it asks what country
you're in.

regards, Ian Smith
--
|\ /| no .sig
|o o|
|/ \|

Ian Smith said:

marc said:

Ian Smith said:

>> On Aug 15, 9:22 pm, Maya <[email hidden]> wrote:
>>> https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=f%2ffhNEVt4UmEfKAzC4QpXA%3d%3d
My only niggle would be that some of the bike commute questions seem
to assume that no-one would ever ride a bike on the road. At least
one question refers to the state of the paths I ride on and number of
pedestrians and cyclists on them. There is no option to say I don't
ride on paths. Likewise, there's a question that says do I ride
beside cars, and I'm not sure if that means roadside path or road.

Is that because it's a merkin survey?

Quite possibly, but it's not exclusively so - it asks what country
you're in.

So that non merkin results can be ignored?

in message <[email hidden]>, Ian Smith

(') said:

Simon Brooke said:

in message <[email hidden]>,

Maya (') said:

On Aug 15, 9:22 pm, Maya <[email hidden]> wrote:
>
> I am conducting research related to people's attitudes towards
> their commute to work or school. I am writing to invite you to
> take a web-based survey which will take about 20 minutes to
> complete. The link to the survey is:
>
> https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=f%2ffhNEVt4UmEfKAzC4QpXA%3d%3d

My apologies for multi-posting this survey, and sorry if I posted it
to the wrong site.

I thought your survey was pertinent and on topic for this group. If
you've been getting grief from self appointed net vigilantes, ignore
them.

Agreed, and rather better constructed than most of the surveys that
get advertised.

My only niggle would be that some of the bike commute questions seem
to assume that no-one would ever ride a bike on the road. At least
one question refers to the state of the paths I ride on and number of
pedestrians and cyclists on them. There is no option to say I don't
ride on paths. Likewise, there's a question that says do I ride
beside cars, and I'm not sure if that means roadside path or road.

No, I noticed that, and put it in the free text box at the end.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
;; This email may contain confidential or otherwise privileged
;; information, though, quite frankly, if you're not the intended
;; recipient and you've got nothing better to do than read other
;; folks' emails then I'm glad to have brightened up your sad little
;; life a tiny bit.

Ian Smith said:

Simon Brooke said:

in message <[email hidden]>, Maya
([email hidden]'😉 wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

On Aug 15, 9:22 pm, Maya <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> I am conducting research related to people's attitudes towards
> their commute to work or school. I am writing to invite you to
> take a web-based survey which will take about 20 minutes to
> complete. The link to the survey is:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

>https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=f%2ffhNEVt4UmEfKAzC4QpXA%3d%3d

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

My apologies for multi-posting this survey, and sorry if I posted it
to the wrong site.

Quoted message said:

I thought your survey was pertinent and on topic for this group. If you've
been getting grief from self appointed net vigilantes, ignore them.

Agreed, and rather better constructed than most of the surveys that
get advertised.

My only niggle would be that some of the bike commute questions seem
to assume that no-one would ever ride a bike on the road. At least
one question refers to the state of the paths I ride on and number of
pedestrians and cyclists on them. There is no option to say I don't
ride on paths. Likewise, there's a question that says do I ride
beside cars, and I'm not sure if that means roadside path or road.

regards, Ian SMith
--
|\ /| no .sig
|o o|
|/ \|- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Thanks for the feedback. These are good points. As for the question on
riding beside cars, I guess it could mean both roadside path or road.
I was trying to capture the effect of nearby traffic on commuting
stress/satisfaction. Thanks.

Simon Brooke said:

in message <[email hidden]>, Ian Smith

(') said:

Simon Brooke said:

in message <[email hidden]>,
Maya ([email hidden]'😉 wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> On Aug 15, 9:22 pm, Maya <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

>> I am conducting research related to people's attitudes towards
>> their commute to work or school. I am writing to invite you to
>> take a web-based survey which will take about 20 minutes to
>> complete. The link to the survey is:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

>>https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=f%2ffhNEVt4UmEfKAzC4QpXA%3d%3d

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> My apologies for multi-posting this survey, and sorry if I posted it
> to the wrong site.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I thought your survey was pertinent and on topic for this group. If
you've been getting grief from self appointed net vigilantes, ignore
them.

Quoted message said:

Agreed, and rather better constructed than most of the surveys that
get advertised.

Quoted message said:

My only niggle would be that some of the bike commute questions seem
to assume that no-one would ever ride a bike on the road. At least
one question refers to the state of the paths I ride on and number of
pedestrians and cyclists on them. There is no option to say I don't
ride on paths. Likewise, there's a question that says do I ride
beside cars, and I'm not sure if that means roadside path or road.

No, I noticed that, and put it in the free text box at the end.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke)http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
;; This email may contain confidential or otherwise privileged
;; information, though, quite frankly, if you're not the intended
;; recipient and you've got nothing better to do than read other
;; folks' emails then I'm glad to have brightened up your sad little
;; life a tiny bit.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

The question on country is included because I was trying to make the
survey as universal as possible, and knowing the country or state of
residence could be used to detect if there are varying travel patterns/
preferences by country.

Quoted message said:

Thanks for the feedback. These are good points. As for the question on
riding beside cars, I guess it could mean both roadside path or road.
I was trying to capture the effect of nearby traffic on commuting
stress/satisfaction. Thanks.

"The results will contribute to my doctoral thesis at MIT."

I'd be a bit concerned that the way in which you've selected (well,
invited) the sample would make the results pretty much useless, unless
you're just using this to give you an idea of what to research more fully.

Next time you do a survey, spend a lot of time removing any ambiguity from
the questions. As well as getting friends to check through the survey for
stuff you've missed, ask them to do the survey with you there. It's an
easy way of finding all the questions where the meaning isn't entirely
clear, and gives you a chance to reword 'em before you've already sent out
squillions.

On the other hand, are you just making sure there're plenty of flaws in
your method to give you something to critisise to gain extra marks?

--
Mark T

Am Sat, 18 Aug 2007 22:23:30 -0000 schrieb Maya:

Quoted message said:

The question on country is included because I was trying to make the
survey as universal as possible, and knowing the country or state of
residence could be used to detect if there are varying travel patterns/
preferences by country.

There's obviously differences between countries - yet even inside a country
the importance of the bicycle as a means of commuting can differ a lot. I
recently did this map for the UK based on Census figures:
http://www.reurbanisierung.de/share_bike_ward_uk.png

Andreas

in message <[email hidden]>, Maya

(') said:

Ian Smith said:

Simon Brooke said:

in message <[email hidden]>,
Maya ([email hidden]'😉 wrote:

Quoted message said:

> On Aug 15, 9:22 pm, Maya <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

>> I am conducting research related to people's attitudes towards
>> their commute to work or school. I am writing to invite you to
>> take a web-based survey which will take about 20 minutes to
>> complete. The link to the survey is:

Quoted message said:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=f%2ffhNEVt4UmEfKAzC4QpXA%3d%3d

Quoted message said:

> My apologies for multi-posting this survey, and sorry if I posted it
> to the wrong site.

Quoted message said:

I thought your survey was pertinent and on topic for this group. If
you've been getting grief from self appointed net vigilantes, ignore
them.

Agreed, and rather better constructed than most of the surveys that
get advertised.

My only niggle would be that some of the bike commute questions seem
to assume that no-one would ever ride a bike on the road. At least
one question refers to the state of the paths I ride on and number of
pedestrians and cyclists on them. There is no option to say I don't
ride on paths. Likewise, there's a question that says do I ride
beside cars, and I'm not sure if that means roadside path or road.

Thanks for the feedback. These are good points. As for the question on
riding beside cars, I guess it could mean both roadside path or road.
I was trying to capture the effect of nearby traffic on commuting
stress/satisfaction. Thanks.

This is the commute I've been doing the past few weeks:

http://www.toporoute.com/cgi-bin/getSavedRoute.cgi?routeKey=QHECDIICYGJGTCJ

Most of it is quite pleasant countryside, but the traffic at commute time
is quite heavy - ten cars per minute or more, and a fair number of heavy
trucks. Most of the route is two lane single carriageway but the last mile
into East Kilbride is six lane dual carriageway with traffic merging in at
high speed from the left, which can be a little tricky as it's also quite
a stiff climb.

There is a cyclepath alternative to the dual carriageway which I haven't
fully investigated, but what I've seen of it is too poor surface and too
cluttered with pedestrians to be of practical use.

Obviously, I could drive this - but I very much enjoy my morning and
evening ride.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

to err is human, to lisp divine
;; attributed to Kim Philby, oddly enough.

Ian Smith of home said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

On Aug 15, 9:22 pm, Maya <[email hidden]> wrote:
>
> I am conducting research related to people's attitudes towards
> their commute to work or school. I am writing to invite you to
> take a web-based survey which will take about 20 minutes to
> complete. The link to the survey is:
>
> https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=f%2ffhNEVt4UmEfKAzC4QpXA%3d%3d

Quoted message said:

My only niggle would be that some of the bike commute questions seem
to assume that no-one would ever ride a bike on the road. At least
one question refers to the state of the paths I ride on and number of
pedestrians and cyclists on them. There is no option to say I don't
ride on paths. Likewise, there's a question that says do I ride
beside cars, and I'm not sure if that means roadside path or road.

My commute is on urban roads, so like Ian I find the questions not very
suitable. There are parts related to time of commute, which don't really
cater for people who have flexible working times. Commuting later or
earlier is a bit of an irrelevant question when the time of departure for
work can be anywhere from 7-10am. Also the questions about transport means
don't offer walking as a choice, which is my second most frequently used
mode of transport for getting to work.
--
Steph Peters
Chorlton Wanderers Cycling Group
Monthly slow and easy rides from South Manchester
http://www.sandbenders.demon.co.uk/cycling/chwan.htm

Simon Brooke said:

but the traffic at commute time
is quite heavy - ten cars per minute or more, and a fair number of heavy
trucks.

Is that in the lane immediately next to you or including parked cars
etc?

My commute has two main sections and a shorter third, the longest
being alongside a dual carriageway but the shorter being down the end
of the dual cabbageway when it turns into 3 lanes and a motorway
junction, the third is basic A roads through the city. At rush hour
you get about 30 cars a minute passing and pass about 10 parked on the
second section but I'd say the most stressful is the last 3 miles
through the city traffic.

Id say stress is caused not by the presence or quantity of traffic,
but the number of directions it can take around you.

Steph Peters said:

Ian Smith of home said:

Quoted message said:

> On Aug 15, 9:22 pm, Maya <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

>> I am conducting research related to people's attitudes towards
>> their commute to work or school. I am writing to invite you to
>> take a web-based survey which will take about 20 minutes to
>> complete. The link to the survey is:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

>>https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=f%2ffhNEVt4UmEfKAzC4QpXA%3d%3d

My only niggle would be that some of the bike commute questions seem
to assume that no-one would ever ride a bike on the road. At least
one question refers to the state of the paths I ride on and number of
pedestrians and cyclists on them. There is no option to say I don't
ride on paths. Likewise, there's a question that says do I ride
beside cars, and I'm not sure if that means roadside path or road.

My commute is on urban roads, so like Ian I find the questions not very
suitable. There are parts related to time of commute, which don't really
cater for people who have flexible working times. Commuting later or
earlier is a bit of an irrelevant question when the time of departure for
work can be anywhere from 7-10am. Also the questions about transport means
don't offer walking as a choice, which is my second most frequently used
mode of transport for getting to work.
--
Steph Peters
Chorlton Wanderers Cycling Group
Monthly slow and easy rides from South Manchesterhttp://www.sandbenders.demon.co.uk/cycling/chwan.htm

I think the lack of walking was the major gap in the survey.
Otherwise it was a pretty good one.

BTW I have heard that getting a decent review of such a questionaire
is often difficult since most people in a given academic department
haven't a clue about the actual issues. Perhaps the best way to get
feedback aoubt the substantive issues in the questions is to ask a
cycling activist group (not a cycling club) to have a few members
review it.

John Kane, Kingston ON Canada

Steph Peters said:

Ian Smith of home said:

Quoted message said:

> On Aug 15, 9:22 pm, Maya <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

>> I am conducting research related to people's attitudes towards
>> their commute to work or school. I am writing to invite you to
>> take a web-based survey which will take about 20 minutes to
>> complete. The link to the survey is:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

>>https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=f%2ffhNEVt4UmEfKAzC4QpXA%3d%3d

My only niggle would be that some of the bike commute questions seem
to assume that no-one would ever ride a bike on the road. At least
one question refers to the state of the paths I ride on and number of
pedestrians and cyclists on them. There is no option to say I don't
ride on paths. Likewise, there's a question that says do I ride
beside cars, and I'm not sure if that means roadside path or road.

My commute is on urban roads, so like Ian I find the questions not very
suitable. There are parts related to time of commute, which don't really
cater for people who have flexible working times. Commuting later or
earlier is a bit of an irrelevant question when the time of departure for
work can be anywhere from 7-10am. Also the questions about transport means
don't offer walking as a choice, which is my second most frequently used
mode of transport for getting to work.
--
Steph Peters
Chorlton Wanderers Cycling Group
Monthly slow and easy rides from South Manchesterhttp://www.sandbenders.demon.co.uk/cycling/chwan.htm

I think the lack of walking was the major gap in the survey.
Otherwise it was a pretty good one.

BTW I have heard that getting a decent review of such a questionaire
is often difficult since most people in a given academic department
haven't a clue about the actual issues. Perhaps the best way to get
feedback aoubt the substantive issues in the questions is to ask a
cycling activist group (not a cycling club) to have a few members
review it.

John Kane, Kingston ON Canada

CoyoteBoy said:

Simon Brooke said:

but the traffic at commute time
is quite heavy - ten cars per minute or more, and a fair number of heavy
trucks.

Is that in the lane immediately next to you or including parked cars
etc?

My commute has two main sections and a shorter third, the longest
being alongside a dual carriageway but the shorter being down the end
of the dual cabbageway when it turns into 3 lanes and a motorway
junction, the third is basic A roads through the city. At rush hour
you get about 30 cars a minute passing and pass about 10 parked on the
second section but I'd say the most stressful is the last 3 miles
through the city traffic.

Id say stress is caused not by the presence or quantity of traffic,
but the number of directions it can take around you.

and speed, richmound road in kingston though busy is a 30 zone, lots of
lights etc. while not far away hampton court road is 40 zone, with
traffic most buses going past at quite a speed differnace.

roger
--
www.rogermerriman.com