Consumer Research

What will I learn?

(To access some of the capabilities of the Consumer Report web site it is beneficial if you are a subscriber and have a password. It is not absolutely necessary though.)

Instructions:

Part A:

Open the web site for Consumer Reports magazine.

http://www.consumerreports.org/index.html

Answer the following questions:

(You will find it helpful to do a search of the Consumer Reports database first to be sure that there is information on your product choice).

Before you continue you must hand in the first four questions. When your teacher has approved of your product choice you can go on and answer the following questions.

Part B:

Describe the Product

Part C:

Check out the Canadian Extra section of ConsumerReports.org. Read it over and then answer the following questions:

Part D:

For more Canadian information check out the Industry Canada web site.

http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/sc_consu/consaffairs/engdoc/oca.html

Using this site answer the following questions:

Part E:

Evaluate your findings to determine how each of the following would influence your purchase decision:

By following this exercise and answering these questions you have taken an educated approach towards purchasing a product. You have evaluated the research, obtained product information from a source other than the producer and hopefully made a decision as to which brand of the product is best for you at this time.

Evaluation Strategy for Consumer Research Lap

Formative evaluation:

The first four questions must be presented to the instructor before the student can continue on in the activity. This is necessary because these questions are crucial for the rest of the activity. One reason for this is that certain products such as toenail clippers are never evaluated by Consumer Reports magazine, and others, such as automobiles may have too much information on them. It is also important that students know what the magazine is and why it exists. It may also help to motivate students when they learn that this organisation contains non-biased information. These questions need not be marked however it is important that probing questions be asked of the student at this time to assess their understanding of this activity thus far.

It is important that the students are observed as much as possible as they complete this activity. Individual instruction may be necessary to guide the students in answering the questions.

Summative:

The questions should be handed in. They could be marked for completeness, thoroughness of research and the quality of the answers. Open-ended questions such as the following would be worth more because they are higher level questions and require more work to answer properly.

Part D: 1. What information does this site have to add to your knowledge about your product?

Part E: 1-4. Evaluate your findings to determine how each of the following would influence your purchase decision: Price? Quality? Safety? Other factors?

The students could also be involved in the evaluation of this activity. Either before or after they have completed it they could help decide what marks would be allotted to each question. If they do it before they complete the assignment it would allow them to steer their effort towards an area of interest, and if they do it after completing the assignment this would allow for a more genuine evaluation scheme in that they would hopefully weigh the difficult and time consuming questions more heavily. Either way the students would feel a sense of ownership over the whole process and hopefully this would lead to a greater effort on their part.