We surveyed shoppers at Superstore, Safeway, and Capers. We assumed those stores catered to lower, middle, and upper income classes respectively. The questionnaires were composed of eight multiple choice questions. For both February 2007/ 2009, we surveyed for the following: Salary, percentage of salary spent, percentage of money spent on food, professional and marital status, number of dependents existing and if there was a difference in food expenditure between February 2007/2009. We attempted random sampling by asking every third person. We collected 60 samples (20 samples per store).
However, we revised our methods because the data from our first survey did not indicate any significant pattern . We wanted to measure changes in salary as an indicator of the economic recession, but we found that the salary ranges we presented people with were too large to show any change. We also included several questions regarding the person’s personal situation, such as the number of dependents and professional status, because we believed we could use the data to discuss correlations with food expenditure. However, we decided to remove all questions of that nature from our second survey because we realized we were being overambitious.
Our new survey consisted of questions based on salary, amount of salary expended on groceries and dine-outs in February 2007/2009 (because 2006 may have been too long ago to recall), if the recession caused people to buy foods of cheaper brands, and how the recession affected them in personal ways.
