By Ken Y-N ( April 29, 2008 at 22:50)
· Filed under Lifestyle, Polls
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goo Research, in conjunction with All About Japan recently conducted a survey into the matter of young women and studying.
Demographics
Between the 26th and 31st of March 2008 1,052 female members of the goo Research monitor panel aged between 25 and 44 and who lived in Tokyo or the three surrounding prefectures completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 25.3% were between 25 and 29 years, old, 24.8% between 30 and 34, 24.4% between 35 and 39, and 25.5% between 40 and 44. 66.6% were married.
Note that studying is a rather broad heading here, covering anything with an instructor involved. Also, only training started from age 20 or older is considered; doing ballet as a kid doesn’t count.
The one thing I’m studying, or at least should be studying, is kanji; I hope to sit the test for the next level in October. The one thing I want to learn is the game of go. When I was a kid I played it, but it would be nice to get formal lessons from somewhere.
I am also learning how to write headlines for blog posts that attract clicks…
Research results
Q1: How many subjects are you currently studying? (Sample size=1,052)
Q1SQ1: What are you studying? (Sample size=310)
| Sport-related (dance, swimming, yoga, etc) |
50.3% |
| Cooking, sweet-making, bread-making |
14.2% |
| Language |
13.9% |
| Music (piano, guitar, etc) |
11.0% |
| Culture (kimono-wearing, calligraphy, etc) |
11.0% |
| Business-related skill |
7.7% |
| Other hobby |
5.8% |
| Art (painting, pottery, etc) |
5.2% |
| Health, beauty (nail art, aromatherapy, etc) |
2.6% |
| Computer, internet |
2.3% |
| Other |
4.2% |
Q1SQ2A: What are your objectives and benefits from studying? (Sample size=310, multiple answer)
| |
Objective |
Benefit |
| Increase strength, maintain or improve health |
39.0% |
36.8% |
| Can continue my liked activities, hobbies |
38.4% |
29.7% |
| Improve my skills to improve myself |
35.2% |
28.1% |
| Relieve stress |
33.9% |
41.6% |
| Find a new hobby |
23.9% |
28.7% |
| Be a different person from me at home, work |
15.8% |
18.1% |
| Meet new people, make new friends |
11.0% |
31.9% |
| Get qualifications |
10.0% |
5.5% |
| Work needs, for changing jobs |
10.0% |
5.8% |
Q1SQ2B: What are your objectives and benefits from studying? (Sample size=182, employed women, multiple answer)
| |
Objective |
Benefit |
| Increase strength, maintain or improve health |
37.9% |
37.4% |
| Can continue my liked activities, hobbies |
36.3% |
28.6% |
| Improve my skills to improve myself |
39.6% |
31.3% |
| Relieve stress |
36.3% |
42.3% |
| Find a new hobby |
26.4% |
29.1% |
| Be a different person from me at home, work |
15.9% |
19.2% |
| Meet new people, make new friends |
7.7% |
27.5% |
| Get qualifications |
11.5% |
6.0% |
| Work needs, for changing jobs |
13.2% |
9.3% |
Q1SQ2C: What are your objectives and benefits from studying? (Sample size=128, housewives, multiple answer)
| |
Objective |
Benefit |
| Increase strength, maintain or improve health |
40.6% |
35.9% |
| Can continue my liked activities, hobbies |
41.4% |
31,3% |
| Improve my skills to improve myself |
28.9% |
23.4% |
| Relieve stress |
30.5% |
40.6% |
| Find a new hobby |
20.3% |
28.1% |
| Be a different person from me at home, work |
15.6% |
16.4% |
| Meet new people, make new friends |
15.6% |
38.3% |
| Get qualifications |
7.8% |
4.7% |
| Work needs, for changing jobs |
5.5% |
0.8% |
Q1SQ3: How much do you spend per month on your studying? (Sample size=310)
| |
Lesson fees |
Other fees (books, equipment, etc) |
| Up to 4,999 yen |
28.4% |
49.0% |
| 5,000 to 9,999 yen |
36.1% |
9.4% |
| 10,000 to 14,999 yen |
13.6% |
6.8% |
| 15,000 to 19,999 yen |
6.1% |
0.7% |
| 20,000 to 24,999 yen |
5.5% |
2.3% |
| 25,000 to 29,999 yen |
3.6% |
0.7% |
| 30,000 yen or more |
6.8% |
3.6% |
| Zero yen |
0.0% |
27.7% |
Q1SQ4: Where do you study? (Sample size=see below)
| |
Sport
N=156 |
Cooking
N=44 |
Language
N=43 |
| Mid to large-scale class, gym, etc |
56% |
40% |
19% |
| Small-scale class, gym |
24% |
35% |
28% |
| Private classroom, venue with friends |
5% |
18% |
10% |
| University or public facility |
3% |
1% |
4% |
| Other classroom, school, etc |
8% |
4% |
6% |
| DVD, textbook based correspondence course |
0% |
0% |
5% |
| Internet-based e-learning |
0% |
0% |
10% |
| Other distance learning |
0% |
0% |
2% |
| Other |
2% |
0% |
16% |
The above figures were read off an unlabeled graph, so are probably one or two percentage points too high or too low in many places.
Q1SQ5: Why did you choose to do a correspondence course? (Sample size=36, those on correspondence courses)
| Can decide myself when to study |
91.7% |
| Can efficiently obtain qualifications and other skills |
36.1% |
| Cheap |
36.1% |
| Eliminates time travelling to classes |
33.3% |
| Can repeat the same lesson, tutorial many times |
25.0% |
| Had lessons I wanted to take |
22.2% |
| Can write off fees against tax |
11.1% |
| Don’t need to interact with other students |
2.8% |
| Has good support |
2.8% |
Q2: Have you heard of the “education benefit”? (Sample size=1,052)
| Never heard of it |
16.6% |
| Heard of it, but don’t know the details |
31.9% |
| Know the details, but haven’t used it |
42.4% |
| Have used it |
8.6% |
| Using it for current study |
0.5% |
The education benefit is a tax break that currently allows you to write off 20% of the cost of training against tax. It dropped from 50% last year, and 80% a few years back, and this may be one of the factors behind many of the English conversation schools being in financial difficulty.
Q3: What’s the shortest and longest that you’ve continued studying a subject? (Sample size=1,052)
| |
Shortest |
Longest |
| One time |
17.1% |
0.8% |
| Two or three times |
5.0% |
0.6% |
| Four times to six months |
19.4% |
6.1% |
| Six months to one year |
17.2% |
13.9% |
| One year |
6.8% |
10.6% |
| Two years |
3.8% |
14.4% |
| Three years or more |
3.5% |
26.6% |
| Not studied anything from age twenty |
27.2% |
27.2% |
Q4: Why did you quite studying? (Sample size=766, those who have quit, multiple answer)
| Didn’t have the free time |
53.1% |
| Changed work, moved house so couldn’t continue |
20.9% |
| Just couldn’t improve my level |
15.5% |
| Got sufficient skill, qualifications |
12.8% |
| Didn’t get on with the instructor, students |
8.9% |
| Course, contents changed |
6.3% |
| Instructor changed |
4.4% |
| Price changed |
4.2% |
| Friends quit |
2.1% |
| Other |
18.5% |
| Have never quit |
4.3% |
Q5: What might you like to study in the future? (Sample size=1,052)
| Sport-related (dance, swimming, yoga, etc) |
46.3% |
| Language |
38.3% |
| Cooking, sweet-making, bread-making |
36.0% |
| Music (piano, guitar, etc) |
19.5% |
| Culture (kimono-wearing, calligraphy, etc) |
19.5% |
| Health, beauty (nail art, aromatherapy, etc) |
16.3% |
| Business-related skill |
16.1% |
| Computer, internet |
13.6% |
| Art (painting, pottery, etc) |
12.9% |
| Other hobby |
7.4% |
| Other |
0.9% |
| Nothing in particular I want to learn |
13.5% |
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