Waller 1

American Attitudes and Behaviors Toward Breast Feeding: Reflection

I.

A Survey and

Survey (view the official, online survey at: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/9VF6FZS) 1) Select your gender. (radio button) Male Female 2) Select the number of children you have, if any. (radio button) None 1 2 3 or more 3) Have you or the mother of your baby ever breast fed your child? (Select the best answer, choose no if you do not have any children--radio button) Yes No 4) Formula feeding is just as healthy as breast feeding. (Select the one answer that most closely fits your opinion--radio button) Strongly agree Agree Neutral--neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly disagree 5) I am offended when I see a woman breast feeding in public. (Select the one answer that most closely fits your opinion--radio button) Strongly agree Agree Neutral--neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly disagree 6) Breast feeding is ideal for the baby, mother, and society. (Select the one answer that most closely fits your opinion--radio button) Strongly agree Agree Neutral--neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly disagree 7) The American media presents a positive image of breast feeding. (Select the one answer that most closely fits your opinion--radio button) Strongly agree

Waller 2 Agree Neutral--neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly disagree Overall, American culture supports breast feeding at a practical level. (Select the one answer that most closely fits your opinion--radio button) Strongly agree Agree Neutral--neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly disagree Despite the inconvenience, breast feeding is worth the sacrifice. (Select the one answer that most closely fits your opinion--radio button) Strongly agree Agree Neutral--neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly disagree A woman should breast feed if she is able to do so. (Select the one answer that most closely fits your opinion--radio button) Strongly agree Agree Neutral--neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly disagree For what reasons, if any, would you object to breast feeding your child? (open-ended)

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II.

Results and Reflection:

1. What I learned about my survey topic My original topic was breast feeding and my research question was, What are the American attitudes and behaviors towards breast feeding? I was pleasantly surprised with my results because I discovered that of the 13 people who took my survey (84.6% were female, 15.4% were male), most had a more positive attitude towards breast feeding than I expected. For example, 84.7% of the survey population agreed and strongly agreed that a woman should breast feed if she is able to do so. Another 84.7% agreed and strongly agreed that breast feeding is ideal for the baby, mother and society. I thought these were good results considering 53.8% of the survey population didnt even have children, and only 30.8% had ever breast fed or supported their partner in breast feeding. I was also glad to learn that 77% of survey participants disagreed or strongly disagree with the statement, Formula feeding is just as healthy as breast feeding, as this was the central fallacy I was attempting to debunk.

Waller 3 I firmly believe that the simple, natural act of breast feeding has the power to significantly improve the health of all people (both babies and mothers) and, consequently, take the strain off the health care system in America. My main goal in this survey was to discover how much the general American adult public--regardless of their gender or ability to breast feed--knows about the benefits of breast feeding for the entire society. Indeed, my results revealed that most people are aware of these benefits and are supportive and open to breast feeding. In response to the open response question, For what reasons, if any, would you object to breast feeding your child?, one participant answered, None. As a female, I already have the means to carry, transport, and disperse the milk. It's a hell of a lot more convenient than any other arrangements to me. I was pleased she thought so. 2. What I learned about the purpose of a survey The purpose of the survey should be the standard that guides the creation of every question and answer choice, down to the word choice, question type (demographic, open or closed), and response formats (check boxes, text input, drop-down etc). I strove to keep my purpose--derived from my research question, What are the American attitudes and behaviors towards breast feeding?--as the central, unifying thread throughout the whole of my survey, even down to the tiniest details. From the other comments I have read from survey participants so far, I believe I was successful. In several of the surveys I took, the purpose seemed unclear or unfocused, and, consequently, the questions, logical progression, and formatting seemed disjointed and illogical. From my experience, narrow, specific topics and thoughtful, purpose-driven research questions seem to be the best strategy for extracting accurate, meaningful results for survey research. 3. What I learned about targeting an audience for a survey The most important part of targeting an audience is making the survey accessible and easy-to-take even if the survey may not apply directly to members of the population who are taking it. For example, I was aware that the topic of breast feeding would probably appear irrelevant to a majority of the class, since our class consists of students who are male or those do not have children. However, the goal of my survey was to see how the general American adult public reacts to breast feeding and if they are aware of the societal benefits. To that end, my survey was applicable to every member of class in that they represent a sector of the general American adult public. The most important ways to target an audience are to appeal to the interests of their demographic, use their language, and define terms. If you can accomplish these things, you will attract and maintain a respondents interest, speak their language, and be able to explain to them exactly what you mean, thus enabling you to extract the most accurate and meaningful data possible. I believe that my survey successfully targeted my audience, as I was able to derive very meaningful results from the survey despite the fact that only 46.2% of survey participants even have children, and 69.2% have never breast fed.

Waller 4 I wish I could have had more males in the survey population and had the chance to ask the question about the populations age. I feel that I would have been able to gather and interpret more accurate results if I had had more control over these factors. 4. What I learned about the importance of writing effective survey questions I learned that in order to write effective survey questions it is important to remember that a survey should not test the knowledge of respondents, but should be used to gather information on attitudes, beliefs, preferences, facts, characteristics, demographics, behavior, and habits. This piece of wisdom that was shared in the assignment instructions helped me to create the most effective questions. The most important characteristics of effective survey questions are that they should be related to the purpose (research question), targeted to the appropriate audience, easy-to-answer, and unbiased. I believe my survey results are effective because they are focused and purpose-driven, targeted, and accessible. I believe my survey questions were affective based on positive comments I received from my peers and the practical fact that they helped me answer my biggest questions regarding American attitudes and behaviors towards breast feeding. The weakest question on my survey is # 7, Overall, American culture supports breast feeding at a practical level, because it is vague and does not define the terms support or practical level. The vague quality of this question is evidenced by the fact that 41.7% of respondents replied, neutral, to this statementthey were neither able to agree nor disagree based on their fact that they were unsure of what the question was actually referring to. I wish I would have understood how to better define the terms for my audience so that I could have gotten the best results possible. In fact, just last week I was learning about the process of defining terms in my persuasive writing class, but only after I have completed this assigned did the reality and importance of this process truly seem to sink in and make sense. In the future I will strive to have a better grasp on my target audience in order to more accurately define the terms.