Economics SBA

Name: Amare R. Castillo

School: St. John’s High School
St. John’s College
Subject: Economics
Title: An investigation into the demand of electronic books (e- books) among
the students at Junior College Level.
Center Number: 040015
Candidate Number: 0400150174
Territory: Country of Belize
Date: August

Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my teacher for his patience and help.
I would like to thank my family for their support and I much appreciate their long hours with
helping me.
I would like to take the time to appreciate the respondents of my survey and interviews, who
were busy but stilled helped.
Introduction
Nowadays everyone is evolving with the use of technology. Surprisingly even old institutions in
the country of Belize. When I say this, I mean that instead of using traditional books it has
stepped up and starting to allow student to us electronic books. Many students at Junior College
level take advantage of this and use electronic books as they see it as a luxury.

Table of Contents
Acknowledgements …………………………………………………………………….
Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………
Table of Content …………………………………………………………………………
Title…………………………………………………………………………………….
Purpose of Investigation…………………………………………………………………..
Methods of Investigation ………………………………………………………………….
Limitation Faced………………………………………………………………………….
Presentation and Explanation……………………………………………………………..
Interpretation and Analysis of Data………………………………………………………
Findings…………………………………………………………………………………..
Recommendations……………………………………………………………………………
Bibliography………………………………………………………………………………
Appendix……………………………………………………………………………………..

Title
An investigation into the demand of electronic books (e- books) versus textbooks among the
students at Junior College Level.
Purpose of Investigation
The purposes of this investigation are:
1. To establish the relationship of the price and quantity demand of electronic books
 2. To examine the price of electronic books
3. To determine the advantages/disadvantages of electronic books
4. To determine the factors, affecting electronic books
5. To investigate the effect of demand of electronic books on the substitute good

Methods of Investigation
Primary Source of Information used in this project is:
1. Questionnaire. Forty Questionnaires were handed out to students from junior level.
2. Interview. Ten interviews were conducted with students from different schools.

Secondary Source of Information used in this project are:

1. Traditional Textbook. Economics Textbook was used to verify different terms used.
2. Internet. The following website was used:
https://blogs.siliconindia.com

Limitations Faced
The following limitations were faced:
 Some students didn’t understand some questions of the questionnaire.
 Some questionnaires were invalid due to ridiculous answers

Presentation and Explanation of Data

The following is the presentation of the data collected.
Question 1. All students used textbooks, but people use E-books or both more than traditional
books.
Books Choices Traditional Books E- Books Both
Number of Students 4 14 14
 Book Choices
4

14

14

Traditional Books E- Books Both 4th Qtr

Question 2 . Of the 32 Students, 18 preferred E- books, 8 liked traditional books and 11 uses
both.

Student Preferred Option

E-Books Traditional Books Both Books

13 8 11

Question 3 . Based on the questions before they where asked to check some reasons why.
 Factors that Affected Students' Decision
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Category 1

Price Availability Accessibility

Resale Value Print Size Storage
Travel Environmental Reason School Issued

Question 4 . Out of the 32 applicants, majority said yes as the price of the substitute good did
affect their decision of get the good.

Students’ Choice

Yes No

19 13

Question 5 . Most of the students stated that their E- books that they have were self-purchased.

Number of Students who 18

 bought their e-books
Number of students who were 14
given e-books

Chart Showing The Number of Student E-Books

20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Student's E- books

Self Purchased Given

Question 6 . According to the survey results, many believe that E- Books have disadvantages.

Students Thoughts that E-books have Disadvantages

Yes No

18 14
 Students' Belief on E-Books Disadvantages

No; 14

Yes; 18

Question 7 . These were the disadvantage the applicants chose.

Disadavantages of E-books
16

14

12

10

0
Category 1

Piracy/Fake Document Device Cost Program Storage Device Battery Span

Device Compatibility Eye Strain Easily Corrupted Files Additional Add-ons
Question 8 . Majority of the survey takers responded with No, teachers do not influence them
however some do.
Students who said Yes Students who said No
4 28

Question 9. Many believed that if they were to buy traditional book the same that it would cost
less.
Believed Cost More Believed Cost Less
15 17

Question 10. This was the last question and was open ended but the answers were frequently the
same it was that the process was harder to be done or the process was easier to complete.

Interview Results.
There were 10 people interviewed from different schools.
Which book do you prefer to use when in Traditional - 4
school? E-Book - 6
Were these books given by the school? Yes – 2
No – 8
Is there a major difference between these Yes – 5
book types? No – 5
Did your teacher influenced you to get these Yes – 3
books? No – 7
Did the disadvantages of the e- books affect Yes – 6
you daily? No – 4
Is the process of get these e- books easy or Easy – 8
hard? Hard – 2

Interpretation and Analysis of Data

In this SBA, there were thirty- two (32) questionnaires given to students of the junior college
level. Fourteen (14) of the students were male while eighteen (18) were female, this added up to
create the total of thirty-two (32). The age range went from sixteen (16) to forty and over (40+).
Now firstly, (4) four student use traditional books, (14) fourteen use E- books and another
(14) fourteen use both traditional and E- books. However (13) thirteen preferred E-books then
(8) eight preferred traditional books while (11) eleven preferred both. From there they were
asked what factors affected their decisions, their responses were (19) nineteen was price, (17)
was accessibility ,(15) fifteen was availability, (11) eleven was storage, (10) ten was travel, ( 3)
three was school issued, (3) three was print size, (2) two was environmental reasons and (0) zero
chose resale value. Furthermore, a later question asked about the substitution good versus the
actual good. The question was if the substitution good’s price affected your decision as well, (19)
nineteen said yes while (13) thirteen said no.(14) Fourtten said their ones were given while (18)
eighteen said that theirs were self-purchased. Majority also agreed that e-books do have
disadvantages.
Moreover the question if teachers do influence them to get e-books, and the results were that (4)
four said yes and (28) twenty- eight said no.

Findings
The findings of the study are:
1. Students at the associate level prefer E-books over traditional books.
2. E-books do have a number of disadvantages
3. The is a higher demand for e- books than traditional books.
4. E-books have a higher price than traditional books

Recommendations
1. E-book should have a a lower price
2. School should give the e-book
 Appendix
My name is Amare Castillo. This questionnaire is par of my research for my economics school-based
assessment project. Your responses will be greatly appreciated,
Name: (Optional)
Sex: Male Female
Age: ________16-20 years _________21-29 years ___________30 years and over
Course Level: ________First Year ____________Second Year
1. What type of book are you currently using as your course text?
_____Traditional ____E-Book _____Both

2. Which type of book do you prefer for your courses?

____Traditional ______E-Book ____Both

3. Based on your answer from the second question, place a tick by the factors which affected your
decision to get the book you prefer.
___Price ____Print Size

___Availability ____Storage

___Accessibility ____Travel

___Resale Value ____ Environmental Reasons

4. Did the price of the substitute good made you change your mind about electronic books?
_____Yes _____No

5. Did you purchase your electronic books or where given by the school?
_____Purchased ______Given

6. Besides the obvious advantages, do you see the E-books having any disadvantages?
____Yes _____No

7. Based on pervious question, place a tick by the factors that are a disadvantage to the E-books?
_____Device Cost ______Eye Strain

_____Program Space ______Easily Corrupted Files

_____Device Battery Span ______Additional Add-ons

_____Device Compatibility ______Piracy/Fake Document

8. Do teachers influence you to a certain type of book?

 _____Yes ____No

9. If you were to buy the same E-books you have, as traditional books would you say it cost less or
more than E-books?
____Cost More _____Cost Less

10. What are your honest thoughts about E-books file being online and unfiltered, how does make
your process to get the book you’re looking for?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________