[SLUG] Survey

[Bob Garrood]

Hi John

Yesterday you wrote:

"Out of interest, we could, when we staff the stand, collect some data
from passing readers. We could ask them if they have a personal
computer, and if so, what is it, how old is it, what OS does it run,
and what do they use it for.

We could ask them if they've heard of Linux, if they know what it is,
if they've seen it, if they've used it, if they use it.

Maybe it needs to be a short list of questions, or maybe not really
questions in a questionnaire at all, but an informal discussion, the
results of which are collected after each conversation in order to get
an overall profile.

It might help us answer these issues we have been wrestling with."

I definitely go for the informal discussion.  My experience with exercises in 
data handling, as our government likes to call it, is that they are mostly 
misleading.  As a marker I once gave full marks to someone asked to devise a 
question that someone opening a restaurant might ask potential customers.   
He or she (from an overseas centre) said: "if he ask too many questions they 
maybe not come to his restaurant".  And I think that is the right answer.

Personally I prefer Anglo-Saxon to Latin where plurals are concerned.  If we 
talked about datums-handling and mediums-studies many young people might be 
saved from thinking some things exciting that are not exciting.

Bob





Sorry, this is irrelevant.

Bob