Project Research

Elise and I are in a group together and came up to potential survey questions for students living on campus. We came up with a wide variety of questions but we still want to discuss these questions with the class to get feedback so we can decide which questions should be included in the survey. We want to include the best questions that ask the right thing and don’t require a lot of time for the person taking the survey. We are still not sure how many open-ended questions we want to include compared to multiple choice questions.

Potential Questions

1.) How have these allergies caused problems for you while eating on campus? (check all that apply)
– Unlabeled foods can’t be eaten (not enough description of what’s in the food)
– Lack of allergy free food to buy at market places
– Reactions because of proximity to foods containing allergens
– Most of the time you feel like you can’t eat the foods, so you eat in your room
– N/A

2.) How often do you have issues finding time to eat in the dining hall?
– Everyday
– Most of the week
– A few days a week
– Once a week
– Never

3.) What keeps you from having enough time to eat in the dining hall? (check all that apply)
– The dining hall closes too early
– The dining hall doesn’t open early enough
– Not enough time in-between classes
– Other conflicts

4.) Do you care about the quality of our food?

A. Yes
B. No

5.) How much do you think each meal from the dining hall is worth?
– Under $5
– $5-10
– $10-15
– $15 -20
– $20-25+

6.) Do you think the university is cares enough about your needs?

A.) Yes
B.) No

7.) How would you feel about a “food-to-go” program, where you could take food out of the dining hall in a reusable container (with barcode to keep track of the container/food plan)?
– Too much hassle
– Good idea
-Might be a good idea

8.) How do you feel about the environment in the dining halls? (check all that apply)
– Comfortable
– Hectic
– Boring
– Don’t really care
– Loud
– Other ______

9.) Are the disposal systems in the dining halls efficient?
– Yes, I can easily dispose of my trash and recyclables
– No, I have a hard time finding a place for my trash and recyclables
– Unsure

10.) How would you feel about being able to eat dining hall food outside (ex. Tables outside of Wells)?
– I’d love to be able to eat dining hall food outside
– I would not like to eat outside
– Indifferent

11.) What do you normally have for lunch?

A. Sandwich from home
B. Food from the dining halls
C. Pizza from OHOP
D. Other

12.) If you eat food from the dining all do you enjoy it?

A. Yes
B. No

13.) How can food on campus be made better?

A. Be local food
B. Farmers market moved to campus
C. Food with more nutritional value
D. More Variety

14.) Do you think that terrible food in the dining halls is an issue on campus?

A.) Yes
B.) No

15.) Would you like to see more local products from Maine on campus?

A. Yes
B. No

Potential Open Answer Questions

1.) How do you think that the food could be made better at Orono?
2.) What kinds of food would you like to see available on campus?
3.) How often do you use the dining halls?
4.) Suggestions on what to change in the dining halls.

Elise and I decided to have our surveys either emailed to student’s first class accounts or if that idea doesn’t work we will print out the surveys. We will print out surveys and hand them out on the University mall during the afternoon and then migrate to the union and hand out surveys there. We would ask that people fill those surveys out in front of us though.