Approach Note for Understanding Punes Consumption Habits Series 1 School and College Admissions

By Symbiosis Centre For Management and Human Resource Development (SCMHRD)

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Need for the study In an ongoing requirement to inculcate the spirit of enquiry among the management students and faculty, SCMHRD plans to undertake a series of research studies focusing on key areas of concern for the immediate marketplace that they interact with. All students of management need to understand what is the marketplace and the reasons for its behavior. It is important to understand and appreciate the needs and concerns of the marketplace to be able to serve them better. This effort is only to orient the students. School and College admissions of late have become very critical because of the following reasons: Limited number of schools perceived to be good Many students competing for better opportunities Parents who are looking to get better opportunities for their children, not just immediately but also in the long term Pune being seen as an education hub

The endeavor is to understand the schools and colleges being considered and the important factors affecting the consideration set. Research Objectives To gain insight into consumer behavior and analyze the importance of education at school and college level List out the various types of schools and colleges being considered and the reasons for these to be in the consideration set The exact process by which decision making is done with respect to school and college admissions and who are the key players involved The important factors being considered for decision making What are their pain areas with respect to search and evaluation of alternatives What are the parents and their children looking for in the process to assist them to take a better decision

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Research Design Target group: SEC A, B and C, Preferably both parents to be interviewed, Age group of both parents in the range of 21-55yrs Target city Pune Sampling Convenience and select respondents from those available in a random manner Sample Design Parents with school going children in the age group of 6-10 years SEC A1 SEC A2 SEC B1 SEC B2 SEC C Total 50 50 100 100 250 550 Parents with college going children in the age group of 15-20 years 50 50 100 100 250 550 Total

100 100 200 200 500 1100

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Research Process Stage 1 Exploratory phase of conducting in-depth interviews with 5-7 sets of parents as per sample design below to come up with an exhaustive list of factors considered and the decision making process followed Parents with school going children in the age group of 6-10 years SEC A1/A2 SEC B1/B2 SEC C Total 12 (6 A1 and 6 A2) 12 (6 B1 and 6 B2) 12 36 Parents with college going children in the age group of 15-20 years 12 (6 A1 and 6 A2) 12 (6 B1 and 6 B2) 12 36 Total

24 24 24 72

Stage 2 In this stage we will try to gauge the depth and strength of the factors considered and measure it in numbers and find out how significant these are. Information areas Exploratory Phase The importance of education in overall upbringing of the children The meaning and context of education The decision making process followed and key decision areas under consideration Main factors considered while doing school/college admission Description of a good school/college Description of a good admission process for a school/college What are the key problem areas and why What measures being taken to improve the outcome Wish list

Quantitative Phase The attempt is to check the significance of scores. The final questionnaire would be crystallized based on the Exploratory Phase. The analysis and statistical techniques that we plan to use will be standard reliability tests and thereafter Chi-Square tests, Factor and Conjoint Analysis.

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