This series of reports presents findings from the 2007-2008 Graduating Senior Survey at NC State University. Students who graduated in December 2007 or May 2008 (AY07-08) are included. Survey topics include: student goals and intentions; academic environment and faculty contributions; campus climate; academic and non-academic services for students; NC State's contribution to student knowledge, skills and personal development; and student employment and involvement in extracurricular activities.
This introductory report describes the survey�s methodology and provides a demographic profile of survey respondents in comparison to AY07-08 graduates. Specifically, it compares the gender, race/ethnicity1, and academic unit of survey respondents with those characteristics of the AY07-08 graduates. A separate report, "2007-2008 Graduating Senior Survey: All Respondents," focuses on each individual survey topic. Links to tables with gender and racial/ethnic comparisons, as well as comparisons between colleges, are available in the "2007-2008 Graduating Senior Survey: Table of Contents."
Students planning to graduate in December 2007 or May 2008 were eligible to complete the Graduating Senior Survey. The web survey was available from the start of the fall semester in mid-August, 2007, until graduation in mid-May, 2008. Individual departments were responsible for informing their students about the survey and for following up with non-respondents. Departments typically connected the survey to the Application for Degree process. Those graduating with more than one major could complete a survey only for their primary major, as defined by university records. As in past years, several colleges and most academic departments took the opportunity to include a departmental "insert" survey along with the AY07-08 GSS to gather information more specific to their individual assessment needs. Students could complete an insert survey for each of their majors. Results from insert surveys are not available on the web, but are provided directly to the respective departments.
Of the 3,744 students who graduated in Fall 2007 (N=1,281) or Spring 2008 (N=2,463), 55.6 percent (N=2,082) completed and returned usable surveys. Overall, fall graduates were slightly more likely than spring graduates to complete the survey (59.4% vs. 53.6%).
The margin of error for the senior survey is low (±1.0 at a 95 percent confidence interval). That is, if 76.7 percent of the respondents answered a question saying "yes, they would choose NC State again," we can be 95 percent sure that the true figure would be between 77.7 percent (76.7 + 1.0) and 75.7 percent (76.7 - 1.0) if all graduating seniors had responded to the survey2. The margin of error increases as the sample size decreases, so statements for various subgroups, such as the separate figures reported for whites and African Americans, are less precise than statements based on the total sample.
Table 1: Response Rate and Margin of Error by SemesterSemester of Graduation | Senior Class | Survey Respondents | Response Rate |
Margin of Error |
||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
N | % | N | % | % | ||
Dec 2007 | 1,281 | 34.2 | 761 | 36.6 | 59.4 | ±1.4 |
May 2008 | 2,463 | 65.8 | 1,321 | 63.4 | 53.6 | ±1.3 |
Total | 3,744 | 100.0 | 2,082 | 100.0 | 55.6 | ±1.0 |
Gender and Race/Ethnicity (Tables 2 and 3)
Women are slightly overrepresented among survey respondents. Women make up 46.4 percent of the senior class population, compared to 51.1 percent of the survey respondents. There are no significant racial/ethnic differences between the AY07-08 graduating senior population and survey respondents. Among the senior population, 82.3 percent are white, 7.6 percent are African American, and 10.1 percent are other racial/ethnic minorities. Among survey respondents, 82.9 percent are white, 7.5 percent African American, and 9.6 percent are other racial/ethnic minorities.
Table 2: Gender of the Graduating Senior Class and Survey RespondentsGender | Senior Class % (N) |
Survey Respondents % (N) |
Response Rate |
Margin of Error |
---|---|---|---|---|
Female | 46.4 (1,738) |
51.1 (1,064) |
61.2 | ±1.2 |
Male | 53.6 (2,006) |
48.9 (1,018) |
50.7 | ±1.5 |
Total | 100.0 (3,744) |
100.0 (2,082) |
55.6 | ±1.0 |
Race/Ethnicity | Senior Class % (N) |
Survey Respondents % (N) |
Response Rate |
Margin of Error |
---|---|---|---|---|
White | 82.3% (3,081) |
82.9% (1,725) |
56.0% | ±1.0 |
African American | 7.6% (284) |
7.5% (157) |
55.3% | ±3.5 |
Native American | 0.8% (29) |
0.7% (15) |
51.7% | ±12.2 |
Asian | 4.9% (183) |
4.5% (94) |
51.4% | ±4.9 |
Hispanic | 2.4% (90) |
2.3% (48) |
53.3% | ±6.6 |
Other | 2.1% (77) |
2.1% (43) |
55.8% | ±6.6 |
Total | 100.0% (3,744) |
100.0% (2,082) |
55.6% | ±1.0 |
Table 4 shows enrollment of the AY07-08 graduating senior population and survey respondents by academic unit. The Colleges of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Education, and Natural Resources are slightly underrepresented among survey respondents, while the College of Humanities and Social Sciences is overrepresented. With the exception of the College of Design (which, having an extremely low response rate, is excluded from inter-college comparisons), all other colleges are accurately represented in the survey, with similar proportions of survey respondents and graduating class members.
Table 4: Classification by Academic UnitAcademic Unit | Senior Class % (N) |
Survey Respondents % (N) |
Response Rate |
Margin of Error |
---|---|---|---|---|
Agriculture and Life Sciences | 18.2% (681) |
15.0% (313) |
46.0% | 3.0 |
Design | 2.7% (101) |
0.4% (8) |
7.9% | 31.9 |
Education | 4.1% (152) |
2.5% (53) |
34.9% | 8.8 |
Engineering | 21.7% (811) |
19.9% (415) |
51.2% | 2.3 |
Natural Resources | 5.7% (212) |
3.3% (68) |
32.1% | 8.1 |
Humanities and Social Sciences | 24.4% (915) |
34.8% (725) |
79.2% | 0.8 |
Physical and Mathematical Sciences | 5.1% (190) |
4.8% (99) |
52.1% | 4.7 |
Textiles | 3.2% (119) |
3.3% (69) |
58.0% | 5.0 |
Management | 15.0% (563) |
15.9% (332) |
59.0% | 2.2 |
Total | 100.0% (3,744) |
100.0% (2,082) |
55.6% | 1.0 |
The data obtained from survey respondents were analyzed using standard statistical methods3. These reports attempt to provide a level of detail that makes the data more accessible and interpretable to the user. A primary purpose is to highlight patterns found in responses to related question items or between comparison groups. Such consistencies among items or between groups are usually more important for understanding the data than are the sizes of the differences between individual pairs of ratings or ranks or, to some extent, whether the differences are statistically significant. While some individual small differences might actually be statistically significant, they may not be substantively meaningful. On the other hand, when even relatively small differences yield consistent patterns within a similar series of questions, the results are potentially more telling.
Posted: April, 2009
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