Parental Preferences Concerning Preschools
Summary
As majority of the parents find the need of a good foundation for their young ones, the author of the article aims to help the preschool learning center in positioning customer advantage by identifying the important preschool attributes that parents placed emphasis on in selecting preschools and whether the parents differ significantly from each other based on the given preference attributes. The author used conjoint analysis technique to identify the five important attributes and to segment the parents into clusters. A focus group discussion (FCD) was also initially conducted to shortlist the important preschool attributes. Further, personal interviews and survey questions were utilized in identifying the significant preference models. The preference rankings were analyzed using a non-metric conjoint analysis and only important individual models were included in the final analysis. Patayon’s study revealed the five important attributes as safety measures, teacher’s training and qualification, cost per year, adult to children ratio, and lastly the school distance. A cluster sample of parents, using the conjoint analysis, was obtained from Talomo and Calinan Districts. Findings for the preferred designs differ as the individual-level conjoint results were subjected to hierarchical cluster analysis using the average between group as link.
Comments
• The study performed qualitative and quantitative research. It involves survey and focus group discussion (FGD) in which parents were asked about their perceptions, beliefs and attitude towards the attributes of a preschool. In this method, respondents are free to give views from any aspect.
• Samples designs were obtained by the author to serve as guide in the design. Sampling is the selection of a subset of individuals from within a population to estimate characteristics of the whole population. It could be noted that only Thirteen (13) parents joined the focus group discussion (FGD) to shortlist the
As majority of the parents find the need of a good foundation for their young ones, the author of the article aims to help the preschool learning center in positioning customer advantage by identifying the important preschool attributes that parents placed emphasis on in selecting preschools and whether the parents differ significantly from each other based on the given preference attributes. The author used conjoint analysis technique to identify the five important attributes and to segment the parents into clusters. A focus group discussion (FCD) was also initially conducted to shortlist the important preschool attributes. Further, personal interviews and survey questions were utilized in identifying the significant preference models. The preference rankings were analyzed using a non-metric conjoint analysis and only important individual models were included in the final analysis. Patayon’s study revealed the five important attributes as safety measures, teacher’s training and qualification, cost per year, adult to children ratio, and lastly the school distance. A cluster sample of parents, using the conjoint analysis, was obtained from Talomo and Calinan Districts. Findings for the preferred designs differ as the individual-level conjoint results were subjected to hierarchical cluster analysis using the average between group as link.
Comments
• The study performed qualitative and quantitative research. It involves survey and focus group discussion (FGD) in which parents were asked about their perceptions, beliefs and attitude towards the attributes of a preschool. In this method, respondents are free to give views from any aspect.
• Samples designs were obtained by the author to serve as guide in the design. Sampling is the selection of a subset of individuals from within a population to estimate characteristics of the whole population. It could be noted that only Thirteen (13) parents joined the focus group discussion (FGD) to shortlist the