The "Chengda Cup" 12th National College Student Market Survey and Analysis Competition, co-organized by the Teaching Guidance Committee for Statistics Majors of the Ministry of Education and the China Society of Business Statistics, is scheduled to officially launch in September 2021. The market survey competition is a competition project in the ranking of discipline competitions in higher education institutions, a first-class national competition in China, and a practical teaching platform for the statistics discipline with government support, corporate recognition, active participation from faculty and students of universities, and high connectivity across the Taiwan Strait.
To encourage students to participate in this competition and achieve excellent results, the Market Research Competition presentation and public welfare training organized by the School of Statistics and Management of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics and the school’s Youth League Committee, and undertaken by the school's Statistical Research Association, were successfully held. Associate Professor Li Tao from the School of Statistics and Management at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Associate Professor Li Yan from East China Normal University, and Manager Wang Tongwen from Questionnaire Net attended to provide guidance and valuable advice to the participating teams.
Presentation Meeting
The market research competition briefing and preparation training lecture was held on the afternoon of October 19 in Room 1114 of the School of Statistics and Management. In order to disseminate relevant knowledge about the competition and the registration process to interested students, Associate Professor Li Tao was invited as a guest speaker. During the lecture, Professor Li mainly discussed the registration methods, event schedule, basic information about the competition, and content. He provided relevant suggestions on how to choose topics, project establishment, research, data processing, mid-term reports, and writing final reports. He also elaborated on relevant professional knowledge based on his own experiences leading teams and expressed high expectations for the students. In the Q&A session of the lecture, students asked Professor Li questions based on their own situations, covering aspects such as time management, learning content, and benefits from the competition. The professor stated that participating in the competition helps enhance students' thinking abilities and assists in future graduate topic selection, encouraging everyone to actively participate.
This lecture mainly serves the students of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics who are interested in participating in the competition. Through the lecture, everyone gained a clear understanding of the specific matters related to the competition, which helps in further planning for the contest, with the hope of achieving good results in the competition.
Training Meeting
With the conclusion of the online examination for the market research competition, the students who passed are eager to start their research projects. However, how to compete in the contest, what the requirements are, and how to prepare remain significant challenges for many students. In order to help students gain a deeper understanding of the relevant matters concerning the market research competition, as well as to prepare them to achieve excellent results, the School of Statistics and Management at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics held an online public welfare training session for the market research competition on December 3, 2021, with a speech by the vice dean of the school, Wu Chunjie.
This lecture is divided into two parts. In the first part, we have invited Associate Professor Li Yan from the School of Statistics at East China Normal University to share her insights. Professor Li is the person in charge of the University Survey Competition and has guided multiple teams to win first prizes at national competitions in recent years, possessing rich practical guidance experience. This time, she will hold a special lecture on "Preparation and Skills for the Survey Competition" specifically for the Finance University, and the lecture is divided into two halves.
Associate Professor Li Yan explained the scale of this city survey competition before discussing the preparation for participation, hoping that everyone would be well-prepared. Regarding pre-competition preparation, Associate Professor Li Yan offered valuable advice from three aspects: “Preparation in terms of time” — getting ready for a long-term endeavor, “Psychological preparation” — adopting a mindset that encourages learning through competition, and “Moral preparation.” When discussing competition techniques, Associate Professor Li Yan shared the five most important elements: how to study, why to study, how to conduct research, implementation of the survey, and what the research results are. Before conducting research, choosing a topic is particularly important; for this, Associate Professor Li Yan provided a series of suggestions and methods for topic selection. Following that, she detailed how we should conduct our research. She believes that everyone should first have an idea, followed by theoretical analysis, and finally empirical analysis. Moreover, it is essential to emphasize that theoretical analysis is the foundation, and empirical analysis must be based on this foundation. In conclusion, Associate Professor Li Yan stated: “Research results comprise your main conclusions, your suggestions, as well as your acknowledgment of the shortcomings of your research and future prospects. Conclusions must revolve around the previous research analysis, avoiding arbitrary extensions. One must also be cautious about the recommendations based on analysis results and conclusions, ensuring to avoid irrelevant suggestions.” With this conclusion, Associate Professor Li Yan clearly and comprehensively presented the five elements to everyone. Everyone gained insights and benefited from it.
The second part of the lecture was led by Manager Wang Tongwen, the marketing manager of Questionnaire Network, who introduced the methods for collecting high-quality samples and data analysis. At the beginning, Manager Wang presented the purpose of corporate proposition: to view the issues in brands or products from the perspective of the consumer group. He also explained the difference between qualitative and quantitative analysis. Subsequently, Manager Wang introduced the basic questions of the questionnaire, including cover text and instructions, discerning questionnaire questions, the length of the questionnaire, and the overall approach to the questionnaire. After that, Manager Wang shared his experiences and thoughts on how to write a "questionnaire outline," providing insights that enhanced the audience's understanding of this research method. Finally, Manager Wang introduced this year's two propositions from Questionnaire Network: researching contemporary college students' demand for online questionnaires and brand communication strategies for online questionnaire products. The first proposition targets a specific group—college students—while the second proposition does not limit the audience. Manager Wang elaborated on both propositions, raising many questions related to the topics, which sparked numerous ideas and inspiration among the audience.
During the entire lecture, the two speakers presented the issues in a clear, profound, and comprehensive manner. Everyone listened attentively, the atmosphere in the venue was good, and the training session was a complete success.
In recent years, the college has focused on the needs of cultivating top-tier statistical talent in the data era. Relying on Shanghai's leading undergraduate construction program and the educational reform project for the statistics major, the college encourages students to actively participate in practical projects, utilize various competition platforms, disseminate statistical knowledge, establish a collaborative exchange platform for economics and management disciplines, and enhance students' abilities to apply their professional knowledge in statistics, finance, and management. The aim is to build statistical modeling methods to solve practical problems and significantly improve students' ability to apply what they have learned, achieving outstanding results in extracurricular activities. We wish this competition great success.
