Rutgers Turfgrass Survey

[ericgautier]

Not sure where to post this.. just passing along to those who might be interested that are close to Rutgers University.

Rutgers Turfgrass Survey June 28th $30 for 40 Minutes Participation

Horticultural Science and Applied Economics Departments of University
Minnesota (in cooperation with Rutgers University) are recruiting
individuals who are willing to participate in a research study on home lawn
choice decisions. The study will take place at Horticultural Farm #2 (102
Ryders Lane)on the Cook Campus of Rutgers University on Saturday June 28th.
Besides making a contribution to a scientific research project, you will be
compensated $30. You must be at least 18 years of age and have a home lawn.
Participation will take approximately 40 minutes. Participation is voluntary
and you can withdraw from the study at any time without penalty by notifying
the project staff. Times will be assigned on a first come, first serve
basis. Time slots are 9am, 11am, 1pm. No knowledge of turf required. Bring
your friends.

PM me if you are interested and I'll send you the contact info of the person handling the event.

[ericgautier]

Just got confirmation ..

"Participants should be prepared to spend approximately 40 minutes outdoors to complete the survey. Participants will be provided with water. The survey will consist of viewing turf plots and choosing the desirable turfgrasses. It would be beneficial if you could know the area of your yard, turf species and the maintenance you perform on your yard, however no knowledge is acceptable. "

Should be a fun 40 minutes.


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[BoatDr]

Fun for you and I, yes. Fun for the wife? Not so much.


- Sent From My Sandlot.

[Pway]

Hi Eric, this pounds interesting. I emailed Austin and am 99 percent sure I'll be there.

[ericgautier]

Fun for you and I, yes. Fun for the wife? Not so much.


- Sent From My Sandlot.

If wife participates as well, both of you get $30 each.. then just go get a nice dinner afterwards.

[ericgautier]

Hi Eric, this pounds interesting. I emailed Austin and am 99 percent sure I'll be there.

Awesome!

[Pway]

Eric, maybe we can sell our JD tractors there and buy a couple of zeros or commercial walk-behinds.....

[ericgautier]

Eric, maybe we can sell our JD tractors there and buy a couple of zeros or commercial walk-behinds.....

I can probably ride my tractor there. That is how close I am..

[ericgautier]

Had a good time at the turf study. $$ didn't hurt at the end either. Lol.

ImageUploadedByYard Help1404005203.961728.jpg

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[BoatDr]

Well, do tell. What's the scoop?


- Sent From My Sandlot.

[Othertime]

Had a good time at the turf study. $$ didn't hurt at the end either. Lol.

ImageUploadedByYard Help1404005203.961728.jpg

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Such a tease. We want some info.

[ Post made via Android ]

[HoosierLawnGnome]

spend approximately 40 minutes outdoors to complete the survey. .... It would be beneficial if you could know the area of your yard, turf species and the maintenance you perform on your yard

Um, Rutgers - it's going to take more than 40 minutes to describe what we do to our lawns.

[ericgautier]

Surveyors were presented with two different plots (16 different times). We were told watering, fertilizing, and mowing frequencies. Also how well each plot handles traffic and cost per 1000 sq ft. We were then asked which one of the plots we would consider buying (or neither) if you were to purchase one.

Then towards the end of the survey, you were asked about "your" frequencies with fertilizing, mowing and watering. Needless to say, I was on the "extreme" side of the survey. Some of the other questions I remembered were 'watering frequency' of: once a week, twice a week or when you see the lawn stressed. I answered 'when you see the lawn stressed'. Survey also asked to rate preference of color, disease resistance, uniformity.. etc.

I went in wanting to see if I could tell a KBG plot vs others and the one that stood out to me the most ended up being a KBG plot (I had to ask the person running it if it was because the plots were not labeled).

Oh, and they paid $30 after you complete the survey.

I did give a shout to ATY. On the survey it asked were you get your "knowledge" from and I said ATY!

[HoosierLawnGnome]

Did they tell you what cultivar of KBG it was?

[ericgautier]

Did they tell you what cultivar of KBG it was?

I asked, but was only told it was a midnight type. Person running the survey couldn't tell me exact cultivar.

[HoosierLawnGnome]

Note* - "excessive", grass-obsessed guy wanted to know the specific cultivar of his selected KBG plot, and knew more cultivars than the magna cume laude student giving the survey.

[Pway]

I was there too. Kind of fun. The survey was constructed and research primarily being conducted by the university of Minnesota. Rutgers is helping with the research by providing a site (one of many I assume)where samples can be compared and judged based on the factors and characteristics Eric mentioned. The questions about what respondents do with their lawn are seemingly intended to give some context about what the specific respondent knows/does/prefers. I got the feeling that the survey was trying to assess views on low maintenance grass types and the trade offs of appearance, cost, maintenance. There were also a fair amount of questions on environmental views on fertilizers, pesticides, water practices, etc. Eric, I thought the turf fields on either side of the sample areas were by far the best! Sign me up for those.