Dissertation study

[Tomm0136]

Hi all. I am currently working on my undergraduate dissertation (Air v Rail travel between the UK and Paris). Notably, Eurostar plays a huge roll within it. I require a large audience to complete my project questionnaire. Can anyone answer it please. 3-4 mins maximum. The link is:

https://forms.office.com/Pages/Resp...KI7baAwlUNjZFMEczSzVPOFZaMllJTFY4RzBLQ042RS4u
Thank you in advance for your kind help.

 

[Gloster]

Question 5: have you considered ranking?

Are you interested in anyone who has ever travelled by Eurostar, or only those since DATE?

What about those who don’t fly at all?

 

[Tomm0136]

Hi Gloster. The questionnaire is open to all, regardless of previous Eurostar or flying experience. I want to incorporate all backgrounds as the project is rather diverse. For example, I would like to identify attitudes towards climate change.

I hope this helps.

Thank for the Message

 

[alistairlees]

The questions seem to be leading, rather than neutral. This will result in a bias towards certain responses. It would be better if the questions were neutral and responses were on a scale of "how likely..." or similar.

I don't know where you think the centre of Paris is though, but it definitely isn't 6.2km from Gare du Nord (as you suggest it is in question 18).

I think you really also need to make clear: are you asking about travel now (in the recent past)? Travel pre-Covid? Or travel intentions when things return to 'normal'?

 

[Titfield]

easyJet should be written with the first e in lower case and the J in upper case as shown at the start of this response.

 

[Ianno87]

easyJet should be written with the first e in lower case and the J in upper case as shown at the start of this response.

I'm pretty sure that the meaning of the question will still be fully clear...

 

[Alfonso]

Hi all. I am currently working on my undergraduate dissertation (Air v Rail travel between the UK and Paris). Notably, Eurostar plays a huge roll within it. I require a large audience to complete my project questionnaire. Can anyone answer it please. 3-4 mins maximum. The link is:

https://forms.office.com/Pages/Resp...KI7baAwlUNjZFMEczSzVPOFZaMllJTFY4RzBLQ042RS4u
Thank you in advance for your kind help.

Hi, I've answered but I'd suggest some revisions and showing it to a tutor before going much further. The radio buttons for age have some overlaps, the question on what's the most important consideration is not likely to tell you much when almost everyone's answer will be much more nuanced than just the prime driver (mine is price, but I've taken Eurostar and flown many many times and very rarely taken the bus for example, and have paid for leisure select (RIP) and standard premier occasionally). Some of the other questions appear leading. Nobody flies to le bourget but lots do to Orly (not mentioned). I feel your pain, and many in this forum will have been there themselves, so please consider the feedback you get here and you might get some better data and a better mark at the end.

 

[zero]

I was unable to answer questions 5, 11, 13, 15, 17 and 18 because they required me to make an absolute choice, but my choices would depend on the purpose of my trip, the length of my trip and my exact destination.

For example, my trip in summer 2020 involved visiting an establishment very close to Gare du Nord, hence Eurostar was the obvious choice; I did not bother looking at flights.

In 2018 our destination was the southern outskirts of Paris, therefore I flew into Orly and had a hotel booked in Versailles. I could have gone by Eurostar but it was less convenient and also I had arranged to arrive at the same time as my wife who was flying from Germany.

 

[Tomm0136]

Thank you all for the feedback and partaking within the study; I will take all the comments on board and find some solution to any errors, or potential mishaps with answers, which should have been involved. This will definitely shape future surveys I compile.

 

[Alfonso]

Thank you all for the feedback and partaking within the study; I will take all the comments on board and find some solution to any errors, or potential mishaps with answers, which should have been involved. This will definitely shape future surveys I compile.

You could write up this stage as a testing stage, dunno if that helps.

 

[Tomm0136]

I was unable to answer questions 5, 11, 13, 15, 17 and 18 because they required me to make an absolute choice, but my choices would depend on the purpose of my trip, the length of my trip and my exact destination.

For example, my trip in summer 2020 involved visiting an establishment very close to Gare du Nord, hence Eurostar was the obvious choice; I did not bother looking at flights.

In 2018 our destination was the southern outskirts of Paris, therefore I flew into Orly and had a hotel booked in Versailles. I could have gone by Eurostar but it was less convenient and also I had arranged to arrive at the same time as my wife who was flying from Germany.

Zero, this is great, thank you for the addition. I will use this to add substance to the analysis.

 

[Western Sunset]

Done.

As others have mentioned, some ranking of items in a question would've been better. Also, how is Northern and Southern England defined? Maybe better to go with the well-established economic regions.

But a very good shot. Good luck with your studies. Hopefully, you can use the comments on this thread when you do the evaluation bit in the dissertation.

 

[Tomm0136]

Done.

As others have mentioned, some ranking of items in a question would've been better. Also, how is Northern and Southern England defined? Maybe better to go with the well-established economic regions.

But a very good shot. Good luck with your studies. Hopefully, you can use the comments on this thread when you do the evaluation bit in the dissertation.

Western Sunset. Thank you for taking the survey and I do plan to use the feedback for the evaluation stage. Thank you for the positive response also.

 

[Western Sunset]

Western Sunset. Thank you for taking the survey and I do plan to use the feedback for the evaluation stage. Thank you for the positive response also.

Just reminds me of doing a railway-related survey when I did my geography degree way back when. In the days before computers...

 

[alxndr]

Transgender shouldn't be in the same question as gender. A person can male or female and also happen to be transgender.

 

[Horizon22]

Gave it a go nice and succinct with some useful areas of interest, however a few suggestions below:

Q5 should be a ranking and might give you a good qualitative aspect on top.

Agree that Q7 should be the pre-defined regions. "Greater London" and London" are the same thing in Q8.

I would also add that many are leading questions and that would lead you to pick rail over air. If you were to do this, you could say "Rail has X advantage, but Rail has Y disadvantage - would you pick Rail over Air?"

 

[soccermad]

I responded

 

[colchesterken]

my problem was with q5 the question about environment suggest saving carbon

My reason is the ambience I prefer to sit in comfort and watch the world go by rather than be cramped in a plane
the questions focus on trips only to Paris. I use Eurostar for holiday trips to the South
I enjoy the ride on TGV comfy seat watch the French countryside go past at 300kpm

 

[Titfield]

I'm pretty sure that the meaning of the question will still be fully clear...

Yes that is true but the dissertation may be marked by someone who expects to see brand names correctly written and will mark accordingly.

 

[Nev20]

I’m fairly confident that absolutely no marker would mark someone down for that on the survey for Christ sake.

 

[Western Sunset]

I’m fairly confident that absolutely no marker would mark someone down for that on the survey for Christ sake.

Unless they were a very pedantic aircraft enthusiast... Are air enthusiasts even more pedantic than trainspotters I wonder?

Anyway, I'm sure our student friend will do very well. Good luck to 'em.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Completed, but with reservations.
The questions are too London-centric.
In the first years of Eurostar I lived in Reading and used Eurostar to Paris (and beyond by train) regularly.
Now I live in North Wales and it is impracticable to consider Eurostar from both time and cost points of view.
I now use easyJet (and other airlines) from Manchester/Liverpool/Birmingham to Paris, and rail beyond (eg to Strasbourg, Bordeaux).
So the questions about the £58 London-Paris fare are irrelevant in my overall travel plans.
I am more interested in the end-to-end journey time/cost.

The questions on fare perceptions are misleading.
I've generally answered "Don't know", but I am perfectly aware that both air and rail fares vary by date/time/seat selected/luggage taken/meals etc.
easyJet (from London) can be at least as expensive as Eurostar, and a "shorter journey time" is generally untrue when you factor in terminal/city transport factors.
All the operators practice yield management, and you will always get "I could get to New York for less" situations (you can't!).

But better than the average survey, and good luck with it!

 

[Tomm0136]

Completed, but with reservations.
The questions are too London-centric.
In the first years of Eurostar I lived in Reading and used Eurostar to Paris (and beyond by train) regularly.
Now I live in North Wales and it is impracticable to consider Eurostar from both time and cost points of view.
I now use easyJet (and other airlines) from Manchester/Liverpool/Birmingham to Paris, and rail beyond (eg to Strasbourg, Bordeaux).
So the questions about the £58 London-Paris fare are irrelevant in my overall travel plans.
I am more interested in the end-to-end journey time/cost.

The questions on fare perceptions are misleading.
I've generally answered "Don't know", but I am perfectly aware that both air and rail fares vary by date/time/seat selected/luggage taken/meals etc.
easyJet (from London) can be at least as expensive as Eurostar, and a "shorter journey time" is generally untrue when you factor in terminal/city transport factors.
All the operators practice yield management, and you will always get "I could get to New York for less" situations (you can't!).

But better than the average survey, and good luck with it!

Completed, but with reservations.
The questions are too London-centric.
In the first years of Eurostar I lived in Reading and used Eurostar to Paris (and beyond by train) regularly.
Now I live in North Wales and it is impracticable to consider Eurostar from both time and cost points of view.
I now use easyJet (and other airlines) from Manchester/Liverpool/Birmingham to Paris, and rail beyond (eg to Strasbourg, Bordeaux).
So the questions about the £58 London-Paris fare are irrelevant in my overall travel plans.
I am more interested in the end-to-end journey time/cost.

The questions on fare perceptions are misleading.
I've generally answered "Don't know", but I am perfectly aware that both air and rail fares vary by date/time/seat selected/luggage taken/meals etc.
easyJet (from London) can be at least as expensive as Eurostar, and a "shorter journey time" is generally untrue when you factor in terminal/city transport factors.
All the operators practice yield management, and you will always get "I could get to New York for less" situations (you can't!).

But better than the average survey, and good luck with it!

Completed, but with reservations.
The questions are too London-centric.
In the first years of Eurostar I lived in Reading and used Eurostar to Paris (and beyond by train) regularly.
Now I live in North Wales and it is impracticable to consider Eurostar from both time and cost points of view.
I now use easyJet (and other airlines) from Manchester/Liverpool/Birmingham to Paris, and rail beyond (eg to Strasbourg, Bordeaux).
So the questions about the £58 London-Paris fare are irrelevant in my overall travel plans.
I am more interested in the end-to-end journey time/cost.

The questions on fare perceptions are misleading.
I've generally answered "Don't know", but I am perfectly aware that both air and rail fares vary by date/time/seat selected/luggage taken/meals etc.
easyJet (from London) can be at least as expensive as Eurostar, and a "shorter journey time" is generally untrue when you factor in terminal/city transport factors.
All the operators practice yield management, and you will always get "I could get to New York for less" situations (you can't!).

But better than the average survey, and good luck with it!

LNW-GW: many thanks for the response, this will help my analysis and offer pointers of discussion. My current project is The study of travel between the UK and Paris: Air v’s Rail. In general, that’s the reason I’ve drawn in on Eurostar as the HSR competitor, as that provides the main link between the cities. I have drummed up another questionnaire from all of the feedback from this thread.
Western Sunset: thanks again for your feedback, direction and positivity.
Everyone: thank you for all the feedback, I didn’t expect so much but it’s offered me a much rounded insight and has generally assisted how I will attack questionnaires in the future.

 

[Capybara]

Unfortunately I couldn't complete the survey either because it seems there's no route through for the likes of me. Basically I wouldn't fly under any circumstances, mainly for environmental reasons (I haven't flown since 2006), but it's also more convenient and, probably, quicker from where I am. There are also those who would not fly for other reasons. Anyway, good luck with the dissertation.