Group 1 Project Open Doors: Extending Hospitality to Travelers with Disabilities

Charles Carillon,
Erica Kalilikane,
Bethany Waters
This report serves to review the research completed by Eric Lipp and the Open Doors Organization (ODO). Through familiarity with the issue, analysis, and sound recommendations, we conclude that the research was sound and beneficial to a very large demographic of people with disabilities.

MGMT 3350-Business Research Methods
Dr. Aytun Ozturk
SPRING 2012
DRAFT 16 April 2012

Introduction:
Construction worker Eric Pearson was doing his typical nightly duties while his company was paving a major highway in Colorado on a clear, summer night
Each focus group would contain thirteen participants, each with a disability, who would all participate in two group sessions to discuss and develop possible questions for the survey. The company also decided to conduct conference calls as well as have meetings where they could meet and each take the survey. The focus of the survey was on airlines and hotels and would take 21 minutes from start to finish. By using specific information and demographics Harris Interactive formed a very successful dual methodologies survey to ensure that the sample taken was accurate and precise.
Results:
Once Harris Interactive had finished the survey, they administered it to a large number of adults with and without disabilities. Between September 23, 2002 and October 9, 2002, a total of 1,037 surveys had been completed. With the use of the Internet and the telephone, a total of 534 surveys had been conducted online through the Harris Interactive online database and screening for adults with disabilities and 503 surveys had been conducted over the phone (2). By including a wide variety of different types of questions, the most challenging being paired-comparison exercises, Harris Interactive was able to develop a survey that would most definitely benefit the goals of ODO.
Harris Interactive’s final report to ODO included two significant parts. The first was a 76-slide power point that was