The results are in! Polling in the 2001 Drum Corps World Fan and Reader Survey concluded November 30.

3,133 drum corps fans participated in the survey, which asked questions ranging from general likes and dislikes of drum corps to readers’ opinions on Drum Corps World. DCW last conducted a survey of its readership in 1991.

The 1991 survey was exclusively print-based and had a much lower response rate. With the advent of the Internet, DCW has been able to gather data from a much wider spectrum of the drum corps fan base. Strictly speaking, the DCW survey is not a scientific representation, as respondents were self-chosen rather than chosen at random. Nonetheless, it provides a great deal of interesting information -- a snapshot of our respondents and their views on the drum corps activity.

Methodology
The survey instrument consisted of 70 questions. The first 40 dealt with the drum corps activity in general -- spending habits for tickets, how far people travel to attend shows, what people like and dislike about drum corps. The second section of 20 questions dealt exclusively with issues related to the Drum Corps World publication. The third section consisted largely of questions related to demographic concerns.

In terms of design, a concerted effort was made to make the survey as straightforward and easy-to-understand as possible. When the survey was initially drafted, it was examined and tested by a number of people who are experts in either survey methodology or drum corps. The online version was prepared and maintained by Ricky Fritzsching, who did a capable job of addressing concerns as they made themselves apparent. It is, of course, impossible to address every possible problem a respondent might have with a survey in advance -- in truth, there is no such thing as a perfect survey. Given that the vast majority of respondents had little difficulty in forming their response, the instrument is assumed to be acceptable in terms of face validity.

Given the limitations of surveying the drum corps audience, DCW was content to allow respondents to choose to take the survey, rather than selecting a random sample of fans for a survey. There were a number of reasons for this; chief among them is the lack of an all-inclusive database of drum corps fans at all levels of competition, for both DCI and DCA. There simply is no such list, so drawing a scientifically valid random sample is impossible. The purpose of a random sample in the social sciences is to allow for generalization in terms of the survey findings. There is some debate as to whether generalizing results for such a survey would even be appropriate, given that any list of fans would likely exclude many fans, and therefore many viewpoints.

It was surmised that the best option for a survey of the drum corps community would involve a method aspiring to a census; we would endeavor to get as many fans to respond as possible. While our population would still be "people who chose to respond to the survey," it would still provide an outcome preferable to incomplete sampling of an incoherent population base. Our results therefore make no mention of margin of error.

Our effort to create a census was greatly aided by advertisements for the survey placed on various individual corps websites, as well as the website for Drum Corps International, www.dci.org. DCI helped to sponsor the survey through the donation of several prizes to be given away to a few lucky respondents. DCW also provided 10 free subscriptions as prizes to encourage participation in the project.

The survey was made available October 18, 2001 on the Internet, via the DCW website; on the same day, the paper version of the survey was included in the November 2001 issue of DCW. DCW accepted printed responses to the survey through November 30, when the online version of the survey was taken offline. Survey respondents were reminded to answer either the print or the web version of the survey, but not both. To our surprise, an overwhelming 96 percent of respondents (3,026) chose to take the survey online. This is evidence of our increasing reliance on the World Wide Web for the transfer of information, even in drum corps circles.

Findings
This article will summarize the findings for the fan section of the survey. Future articles will concentrate on possible implications of the data and directions for future research and development of the drum corps activity and its fan base.

1. About how many drum corps shows do you attend per year?

0 shows	2.9%
1-2 shows	36%
3-4 shows	23%
5-6 shows	11%
7-8 shows	27.1%

2. How far do you travel on average to see a drum corps show?

0-100 miles	37.5%
100-200 miles	26.5%
200-300 miles	13%
300-400 miles	5%
500 miles or more	17.9%

3. Compared to 5 years ago:

I see more shows now	50.9%
I see the same # of shows	25.2%
I see fewer shows per year	22.6%
I don’t attend shows	1.3%

4. Of the shows I see per year:

I see both junior and senior corps shows but more junior	31%
I see junior & senior corps shows but more senior	10.9%
I see only junior corps shows	48%
I see only senior corps shows	5.9%
Not Applicable	4.2%

5. Do you attend DCI sponsored regional shows and championships?

Yes	78.3%
No	21.7%

6. Did you attend the DCI championships in Buffalo, NY in 2001?

Yes	36.7%
No	63.3%

7. Do you purchase video and audio products from DCI?

Yes	64.8%
No	35.2%

8. Did you attend the DCA Championships in Syracuse, NY in 2001?

Yes	9.9%
No	90.1%

9. Do you purchase video and audio products from DCA?

Yes	11.7%
No	88.3%

10. How much do you spend each year on tickets to drum and bugle corps shows?

$0-$25	24.1%
$25-$75	26.2%
$75-$125	18.3%
$125-$175	11.7%
$175-$225	6.7%
Over $225	13%

11. How much do you spend each year on drum and bugle corps souvenirs?

$0-$25	25.5%
$25-$75	34.6%
$75-$125	20.4%
$125-$175	9.5%
$175-$225	4.3%
Over $225	5.7%

12. How much do you spend each year on drum and bugle corps-related products and services, not including tickets and souvenirs?

$0-$25	49.2%
$25-$75	21%
$75-$125	12.3%
$125-$175	5.4%
$175-$225	2.3%
Over $225	9.8%

13. Are you a current drum and bugle corps marching member?

Yes	25.4%
No	74.6%

14. Are you a former drum and bugle corps marching member?

Yes	54.6%
No	45.4%

15. Are you a current or former staff member?

Yes	24.5%
No	75.5%

16. I am a …

Family Member	5.8%
Parent	5.7%
Fan	61.1%
Other	27.4%

17. How did you first hear about the drum and bugle corps activity?

Friend or Family Member in Drum Corps	33%
Band Director	20.8%
Attended a show	14.6%
Saw advertisement	1.7%
Saw DCI on PBS	15.9%
Recruited directly by a drum & bugle corps	5.5%
Other	8.6%

18. The drum and bugle corps activity provides real value for my entertainment dollar.

Junior Corps:

Strongly Agree	48%
Agree	18.6%
Neither agree nor disagree	13.8%
Disagree	8.9%
Strongly Disagree	10.6%

Senior Corps:

Strongly Agree	33.1%
Agree	21.1%
Neither agree nor disagree	26.5%
Disagree	9.7%
Strongly Disagree	9.5%

19. The judging system is an accurate representation of performance outcomes.

Junior Corps:

20. Drum and Bugle Corps scoring and judging is a concern for me.

21. I would be less interested in the drum and bugle corps activity if scoring was eliminated.

22. I would bring a friend who is not familiar with drum corps to a show.

23. I talk about drum and bugle corps to friends, family and co-workers.

24. Prices for tickets at championships and regionals are reasonable.

25. Aside from the performances of the corps in competition, enough is being done to maximize my enjoyment at a show.

26. Circuits, associations and show sponsors do enough publicity and advertising to let me know about upcoming events.

27. The top five finalist drum and bugle corps appeal to me as a fan, in terms of music, drill and show design.

28. I would attend more shows if the tickets were cheaper.

29. In terms of music, I like the selections the corps play.

30. Drum and bugle corps, as an activity, is changing for the better.

The Data
Fritzsching collected online data throughout the survey period, and totals were computer-generated. Print surveys were counted by hand; the counts were put into a spreadsheet format for easier manipulation. Statistical analysis was made through the use of SPSS Base 11.0 and StatXact. The data were examined for outliers, skewness and kurtosis, and were found to have a basically normal distribution overall. Exceptions to this lie in cases where the result is overwhelmingly positive or negative, as would be expected in questions involving controversial subjects or opinions.

Look for more survey analysis and results in the next issue of Drum Corps World.
Subscribe!