Lawrence Black

Audience Analysis
Audience Analysis for a Faith-Based Wellness Program
Introduction
The purpose this audience analysis questionnaire is to develop a better
understanding of the characteristics of the target population. From this
understanding, I will be able to properly create an instructional design that is
relevant to the needs of the target audience. I will be able to gather important
information on the audiences health and nutrition. According to Smith and
Ragan (2005), It is critical that designers consider their target audiences, as
this knowledge will be important in designing instruction that is effective and
interesting to learners (pg.58).
Below are the survey questions that were used in the audience analysis survey
questionnaire. The surveys were handed out to the participants to complete.
Health Survey Questionnaire
Please take a few minutes to answer the questions below to begin your journey
of making healthy choices for healthy living.
1. Do you have access to the internet?
2. What level of education did you complete?
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)

Less than high school degree

High school degree or equivalent(e.g. GED)
Associate degree or some college
Bachelors degree
Master degree
Doctrine degree

3. Has a medical provider ever informed you that you are five or more pounds
overweight?
4. How would you rate your overall health?
a)
b)
c)
d)

Poor
Fair
Good
Very good

5. How would you rate your nutritional food choices? I _______ make healthy
food choices.
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Audience Analysis
a) Always

b) Usually

c) Sometimes

d) Rarely e) Never

6. How many servings or times a day do you eat fruits and vegetables?
a) None b) 1-2
c) 3-4
d) 5 or more
7. What is your favorite beverage and how often do you drink it a day?
8. What barriers prevent you from eating healthy foods?
9. How often do you skip meals?
a) Always
b) Usually
c) Sometimes
10.

d) Rarely

e) Never

How many times a week do you eat out?

Rationale for Questions

I will outline each question with my reasoning/rationale for creating each
question. Here are the questions with their explanations:
Q1) I asked the question about do you have access to the internet because
participants will be keeping a food diary and tracking their personal nutritional
information on the My Plate.gov website. They will need the internet to
complete this assignment.
Q2) I asked the question about what level of education did you complete? This
will help me to decide on how much of the material will need to be read aloud,
explained, or just handed out for participants to read at leisure. I will also
choose terminology and vocabulary accordingly. I want to insure that I am not
talking down to the participants as well as talking over their heads.
Q3) I asked the question about has a medical provider ever informed you that
you are five or more pounds overweight? In some cultures being overweight is
more acceptable than in others. Often because the American population has
had an increase in people that are overweight or obese, it is hard to believe that
what looks like an average weight is actually overweight. In this way the
participants are not comparing themselves to others but basing this on a
health professionals observation. Nutrition directly affects weight. My focus on
weight will be based on the percentage of the participants who are overweight
or obese.
Q4) I asked the question about how would you rate your overall health so that I
would know if I should design instruction around addressing any
misconceptions or preconception of the participants personal health.
Q5) I asked the question about how would you rate your nutritional food
choices? I _______ make healthy food choices so that I would know if I should
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Audience Analysis
design instruction around how to read labels and make the best food
selections.
Q6) I asked the question about how many servings or times a day do you eat
fruits and vegetables so that I would know if I should design instruction on the
USDA has guidelines for adequate intake of fruits and vegetables.
Q7) I asked the question about what is your favorite beverage and how often do
you drink it a day so that I would know if I should design instruction on
adequate water intake and nutritional value of sweeten beverages.
Q8) I asked the question about what barriers prevent you from eating healthy
foods so that I would know if I should design instruction to address barriers to
make healthy behavioral changes.
Q9) I asked the question about how often you skip meals so that I would know
if I should design instruction around maintaining a healthy diet plan.
Q10) I asked the question so that I would know if I should design instruction
around how to make healthy choices at drive thru and dining restaurants.
Responses/Results to Questions
The opportunity sample group selected consisted of southeastern African
American church members (17 African American females, 8 African American
males, median age 33, between the ages of 21 and 60). Out of the fifty survey
questionnaires that were handed out only 25 individuals returned their
surveys. The survey questionnaires consisted of baseline questions. The
participants were given instructions for completing the survey questionnaires.
Below are their responses to the survey.
Q1) Do you have access to the internet? 95% has access; 5% do not.
Q2) What level of education did you complete? High school degree or equivalent
(35%), Associate degree or some college (30%), Bachelors degree (20%); Master
degree (15%).
Q3) Has a medical provider ever informed you that you are five or more pounds
overweight? 60% said yes; 40% said no.
Q4) How would you rate your overall health? Fair (20%), Good (40%); Very
good(40%).
Q5) How would you rate your nutritional food choices? I _______ make healthy
food choices. Always (15%), Usually (45%), Sometimes (25%); Rarely (15%).
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Audience Analysis
Q6) How many servings or times a day do you eat fruits and vegetables? 1-2
servings (25%), 3-4 servings (50%), 5 or more servings (25%).
Q7) What is your favorite beverage and how often do you drink it a day? Water
(50%), Enriched Sugar Drinks (35%), Coffee (15%).
Q8) What barriers prevent you from eating healthy foods? Cost of Healthy
Foods (20%), Too Busy to Cook (40%) Preparing for Others (25%); Self-Indulgence
(15%).
Q9) How often do you skip meals? Always (5%), Usually (20%), Sometimes
(40%), Rarely (30%); Never (5%).
Q10) How many times a week do you eat out? 0-1 times (20%), 2-3 times
(40%), and 4-5 times (40%).
Impacting Instructional Design
After reviewing the data, I was able to compare the results to my instructional
design. My idea to use MyPlate.gov will work well seeing that the majority of
the participants have access to the internet and the couple of people that do
not will be provided access. The majority of the participants are overweight,
eat out frequently, and do not eat enough fruits and vegetables. It is amazing
that out of these numbers the majority of the participants feel that they usually
choose nutritional foods and rate their overall health as good and very good.
This leads me to believe that there may be some lack of understanding with
serving sizes, and how being overweight can lead to health problems. Due to
the number of times a week that participants eat out, I may consider spending
more time on menu selection and hidden calorie traps like salad dressing,
using containers of butter on bread, and counting soft drink refills.
Possible Survey Questions Change
After reviewing the participants responses, I noticed that a few questions may
need to be modified or reworded for clarification. I had one participant state,
My doctor says little of anything to me. I think I will add a second question to
number three. That asks, Do you believe that you have gained more weight
than you would like? I would also change question number 10 to a multiple
choice versus open-ended question to analyze the data easier. To improve the
amount of surveys returned, I would need to create some type of incentive.

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Audience Analysis
Reference
Smith. P. L. & Ragan. T. J. (3rd ed). (2005). Instructional design. Hoboken,
NJ. John Wiley & Son, Inc.

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