The ABCs of Survey Research Administration Planning Best

The A-B-Cs of Survey Research: Administration & Planning, Best Practices, and College Impact Ellen Bara Stolzenberg, Ph. D. Assistant Director, CIRP UCLA Higher Education Research Institute

Survey Administration Before ADMINISTRATION & PLANNING During After BEST COLLEGE PRACTICES IMPACT

ADMINISTRATION & PLANNING: FIVE Ws and an H �Who �What �When �Where �Why �How *Not necessarily in this order

WHAT & WHY �Overall purpose of survey/study �Research questions �Goals for data use, policy, & practice �Longitudinal or cross-sectional

WHAT & WHY (continued) �Audience? �Stakeholders? �Is a survey the best option? �Existing instrument vs. Design your own

Existing instrument vs. Design your own �Existing instruments? �Existing literature? �Pilot �Focus groups to help design/redesign �Types of Questions �Validity & Reliability

Validity & Reliability �Validity Does it measure what it is designed to measure? �Reliability Does the measurement give consistent results?

WHO �Population vs. Sample Population of interest ▪ Freshmen ▪ Faculty ▪ Graduate Students ▪ STEM Undergraduates ▪ Etc. Survey all or sub-sample?

WHO (continued) Personal Identifiers Confidentiality vs. Anonymity Merging data

3 Dreaded Letters

WHEN, WHERE, & HOW � Time of year � Mode of administration � Time of term � Proctored setting � Time of week � Pre-notification � Time of day � Incentives

BEST PRACTICES �Administration �Paper vs. Web �Follow-up (reminders, communication) �Advertising �Survey length

COLLEGE IMPACT �Reports & Deliverables �Disseminating Data Format Audience Mode �Merging Data �Analysis & Interpretation

Analysis & Interpretation �Descriptives Frequency distributions Crosstabs �Factor Analysis/Constructs �Group Comparisons T-tests/ANOVA & Post-hoc tests �Longitudinal Studies Regression

Discussion & Questions �Campus-specific concerns? �Examples with varying levels of success? �General questions?

Contact Information �www. heri. ucla. edu �Ellen Stolzenberg stolzenberg@gseis. ucla. edu 310 -825 -6991