Refereed paper using customer satisfaction surveys as a teaching resource in statistics education: methods and benefits

Abstract

This paper examines how customer satisfaction surveys can be used as a tool for effective engagement of students who are learning introductory statistics at the tertiary education level in topics which have practical relevance for their future employment and enable an outreach into their communities. We first outline some of the core characteristics of customer satisfaction surveys, and then provide illustrative examples which demonstrate the advantages of including data from such surveys in the undergraduate statistics curriculum, e.g., with regard to going beyond technical analysis into issues of measurement, sampling methodology, data presentation, and more. Such an approach has the potential to improve students' understanding of statistics as well as their ability to interpret and discuss the results of statistical analyses within a real-world, employment-oriented context.