Use the case study and excel data provided below to answer question 17.

Part V - Data Interpretation and Analysis

Question 17 is based on interpretation of data and making meaningful conclusions for decision making. To answer the question, explain what data or test results you are using, how these numbers or results are guiding you to make conclusion (criteria) and what is the conclusion. You may find questions answered before useful in conducting analysis in this section.

Your answer should be based on statistical analysis, and indicate what test results you used to answer this question.

Q17) As student progresses through college, do you notice any changes in popularity of campus dining facility? Is popularity a right word to use in this context?

Case Study:

Food Service Quality of Dining Facility at Riverside University

The campus dining facility is often an interesting topic of discussion among students of Riverside University. They discuss food service unofficially in their conversations or officially during student government meetings. Cafeteria billboards are filled with complaints and suggestions. Yet there is no change. Fast-food locations and other small dining venues off-campus are crowded with students. Students who eat on campus often do so because of a dearth of viable alternatives, i.e., they are required to either buy meal plans or there is insufficient time between classes to go off campus to eat.

There was strong concern in last student government meeting about the quality of the campus dining facility. The student government released the following statement in support of student concerns.

It very important that campus foodservice offer healthy, affordable dining options and quality services. Good health and overall wellness are significantly related to diet. Thus, having quality food keeps students healthy. Food habits that one acquires early in life have long-lasting effects on health. Universities and dining service providers, therefore, need to pay attention toimproving students' satisfaction and retention, and also to be socially responsible by keepingstudents and employees healthy and energetic. This, in turn, will positively impact the academic performance of students, and productivity of employees.

It was decided that a formal study should be undertaken to assess food service quality of campus dining facility. A group of enthusiastic business students developed the survey. The survey begins by asking students their demographic information such as gender, year in school and how often they take advantage of campus dining. It is followed by several questions related to the quality of the food, service, and pricing. Subsequent questions are asked concerning overall satisfaction and retention to campus dining services if new options are introduced. Most of the variables are measured on a scale ranging from 1 to 5. The variable names, questions, and how it is measured is given in Table 1.

Another group of students volunteered to conduct the survey. They gathered in front of dining facility between breaks over the period of two days. Students, entering or exiting from dining facility, were asked if they would fill out a survey. Students, who agreed, completed the survey and gave it back immediately. Students were asked whether they had previously completed this survey to make sure they are were not completing it twice. 62 student responses were gathered from the survey. This data is entered in an Excel file which is ready for data analysis.

In addition to the survey data, university administrators provided enrollment statistics of the students for this semester. There are 10,000 students currently enrolled with 55% of them male students. A fairly equal number of students are freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior. Dining facility statistics show that almost 40% of their student customer are freshman, 25% are sophomore, 20% are junior, and 15% are senior. They have almost same number of male and female customers.

Student governmentis hoping that this study will provide evidence about students concerns and the quality of the dining facility. They also want to check the potential of having an alternate dining facility. How does the current facility fare on various aspects of quality? Are students satisfied with this dining facility? What factors affect their satisfaction? How would students react in if a new dining facility became available? What is the most important aspect in deciding whether to continue eating at the same or at new facility? Are these sentiments homogenous across gender and year in school? When the

Student government previously brought concerns to the administration, the dining facility personnel were quick to reject it saying that it is not reflecting overall student perceptions. How can the student government demonstrate that the results obtained through this study are reflective of students and dining facility visitors? The student government is looking for students taking statistics courses to analyses this data and provide an executive report at the next meeting. As an expert in statistics can you help them?