The results you have all been waiting for

A few days ago I posted a survey that I requested our readers complete to help me learn about the motivations for an upcoming trip that my grandmother, mother, and sister will be taking. The second half of the survey dealt with where and how we should celebrate my upcoming convocation.

I have given people a few days to answer and response numbers seem to have stabilized so I am not ready to release the results. Also, it took me a little while for me to arrange with Rebecca to have her create appropriate visual representations of the survey responses.

Question 1

1. My mother, grandmother, and sister will be arriving in Halifax in a few weeks for a period of time that coincides with my MA convocation ceremony, and also happens to be less than two months after Neil and Rebecca eloped in Las Vegas. Given these details, what seems to be the most likely reason for this travel?

Responses:

These three people are wedding crazy and want to see the bride and groom to celebrate the recent wedding (the convocation story is just a cover for their real intentions).
6.5%

The convocation and wedding are both motivating factors for the trip, though the wedding will be the cause of more celebrating and gifts than the convocation.
41.9%

The convocation is the sole reason for the trips as it symbolizes a real accomplishment, whereas the wedding was just a relatively sterile legal ceremony that doesn't merit celebration.
25.8%

The real reason was that all three women really just wanted to come to Canada's party capital, Halifax, for a crazy weekend on the town.
25.8%

Visualization:



Analysis:

I was very satisfied with these results as they basically confirm my position. Clearly the wedding, along with the convocation, were motivating factors for the trip. To suggest that the wedding did not play a part in the decision-making process would seem to be unfounded, certainly if we trust these results.

Question 2

It is likely that at least one celebratory meal can be expected during the aforementioned visit. Where should we go for such a meal?

Responses:

Saege - Not only is it where we went for Neil's convocation, but is also, arguably, nice.
32.3%

Cousins - The menu includes most of the classic North American meat dishes and most meals also include a serving of Jello and a roll.
12.9%

McDonald's - Inexpensive, quick service, and unlikely to be overrun with other celebrants.
35.5%

An apartment cooked meal - Would allow for more meat per person than any of the restaurants (and the meal could include carrot sticks if we wanted it to).
19.4%

Visualization:



Analysis:

The responses to this question definitely surprised me. I certainly didn't expect that McDonald's would receive as much support as it did (given that this was a convocation meal). I was pleasantly surprised to see how much support the home cooked meal had, though it turned out to be insufficient. Anyway, the good news is that I am not bound by these responses as that would mean that I couldn't go to the restaurant that I subsequently decided upon.