North Carolina State University
Sophomore Student Survey Trends, 1998-2008:
Introduction, Methods, and Student Demographic Profile
Introduction
This series of reports presents findings
from Sophomore Student Survey data collected from 1998-2008. Beginning with
a pilot study in 1997, NC State surveyed its sophomore student population
during the Spring of 1999 and 2000. Since the Spring of 2000, the Sophomore Survey
has been administered bi-annually. Eligible sophomores had
completed 45-59 credit hours, with at least 30 at NC State. Students from all
ten undergraduate academic units, including the First Year College, are included
in the data used for these analyses. Part of the Sophomore Student Survey contributes
to the University of North Carolina-General Administration (UNC-GA) office's system-wide
efforts to evaluate institutional performance.
This introductory report describes
the survey's methodology and provides a demographic profile of survey respondents.
It compares gender, race/ethnicity1,
and academic unit of survey respondents over the five years covered in this
analysis. This report is followed by an overview of results from the trend analysis.
Summary statistics are presented for each survey topic, including student satisfaction with NC State; their assessment of the academic environment
and faculty contributions; their evaluations of student services; ratings
of NC State's contribution to their knowledge, skills,
and personal development; and student employment and extracurricular activities. Data on some survey items are not reported for certain
years due to changes in the survey instrument over time. These changes are documented
within the overview report. Complete results for each individual survey are available on the web at https://isa.ncsu.edu/srvy.
Survey Methods
Since it's inception in 1998 the Sophomore Survey has been administered using a mixed-mode strategy. While exact strategies have varied somewhat from year to year, students are first asked to complete the survey on the web, followed by a paper version being distributed to nonrespondents. The paper version has typically been distributed to non-respondents by their academic advisor during the Spring advising period, but in some years (1998 and 2008) paper copies of the survey were also directly mailed to non-respondents living on campus as an additional follow-up.
Beginning with the 1999 administration a variety of incentives were used to help encourage student participation in the survey. In 1999, 2000 and 2002 those who completed the survey on the web within a three-week period were entered into a lottery in which one respondent was randomly chosen for a $200 cash prize. In 2004, four students responding to the online survey were randomly chosen to each receive a $50 cash prizes, and in 2006 five respondents were randomly selected for to each receive $75. In 2008, efforts to increase participation included an initial random drawing for five early responders to each receive $75, then a subsequent random drawing for three late responders to each win one of three $25 prizes.In each year when the online survey went live all students in the survey population were sent an email inviting them to participate in the survey. While the survey was online at least 3 follow-up email reminders were sent to non-respondents. In addition, throughout the survey administration department administrators, faculty and advisors were encouraged to contact their students to ask them to participate in the survey. In 2008 all students in the survey population were also sent an advance notification postcard informing them about the upcoming survey.
Respondents (Table 1)
A total of 9,273 Sophomore Student Surveys collected from
1998-2008 were used in these analyses. Table 1 presents a breakdown of the
number of surveys collected in each year along with information on the response
rate and margin of error for each year. Between roughly 55 and 75 percent of eligible
sophomores were surveyed in each year, with the highest response rate occurring
in 2002 (76.4%). Because a substantial proportion of sophomores were surveyed
every year, the margin of error for survey results in each year is low (+1.2 or less at a 95% confidence interval).2
The total sample used in this trend analysis represents 75.0 percent of eligible
sophomores during the study years, with a margin of error of + 0.3 at a 95 percent confidence interval.
| Year | Sophomore Population (N) | Survey Sample (N) | Response Rate (%) | Margin of Error |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 1,817 | 1,147 | 63.1% | ±1.1 |
| 1999 | 1,800 | 1,170 | 65.0% | ±1.0 |
| 2000 | 1,890 | 1,365 | 72.2% | ±0.7 |
| 2002 | 2,053 | 1,569 | 76.4% | ±0.6 |
| 2004 | 2,033 | 1,215 | 59.8% | ±1.1 |
| 2006 | 2,104 | 1,454 | 69.1% | ±0.8 |
| 2008 | 2,464 | 1,353 | 54.9% | ±1.2 |
| Total | 12,361 | 9,273 | 75.0% | ± 0.3 |
Analyses
The data were analyzed using standard
statistical methods. In analyses not presented in these reports, responses were
tested to determine whether there were significant differences in responses
to survey items across years3. Complete results
are available from UPA upon request.
These reports attempt to provide
a level of detail that makes the data more accessible and interpretable to the
novice data user. A primary purpose is to highlight patterns found in responses
to related question items or across years. Such consistencies among items or
across years are usually more important for understanding the data than are
the sizes of the differences between individual pairs of ratings or, to some
extent, whether the differences are statistically significant. While some individual
differences might 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.
Demographics of the Survey Respondents, 1998-2008
Gender and Race/Ethnicity (Tables 2 and 3)
With two exception, there are no statistically significant gender or racial/ethnic differences between the survey sample and sophomore population for any given year of the survey. In 2004 and 2008 , women were significantly more likely than men to have participated in the survey. In addition, though differences are not statistically significant, women and whites were consistently over-represented in the survey sample, while men and African-Americans were consistently under-represented in other survey years. In general, however, the results obtained from the survey sample across the years may be regarded as broadly representative of the entire group of eligible sophomores.
Table 2: Trends in Gender Composition of Population and Survey Respondents
| Gender | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2002 | 2004 | 2006 | 2008 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pop | Survey | Pop | Survey | Pop | Survey | Pop | Survey | Pop | Survey | Pop | Survey | Pop | Survey | |
| Female | 43.6% | 45.6% | 42.7% | 43.6% | 42.8% | 44.2% | 46.8% | 48.7% | 46.6% | 52.8% | 47.0% | 48.7% | 48.5% | 52.7% |
| Male | 56.4% | 54.4% | 57.3% | 56.4% | 57.3% | 55.8% | 53.2% | 51.3% | 53.4% | 47.2% | 53.0% | 51.3% | 51.5% | 47.3% |
Table 3: Trends in Racial/Ethnic Composition of Population and Survey Respondents
| Race/Ethnicity | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2002 | 2004 | 2006* | 2008 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pop | Survey | Pop | Survey | Pop | Survey | Pop | Survey | Pop | Survey | Pop | Survey | Pop | Survey | |
| White | 84.8% | 83.3% | 84.1% | 82.5% | 83.1% | 81.1% | 83.9% | 82.0% | 84.0% | 81.6% | 80.3% | 81.4% | 80.0% | 81.2% |
| African American | 8.5% | 10.4% | 9.1% | 10.3% | 9.2% | 11.7% | 7.9% | 9.7% | 8.5% | 10.9% | 10.4% | 9.3% | 9.0% | 7.2% |
| Native American | 0.7% | 0.9% | 0.9% | 0.8% | 0.5% | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.8% | 0.9% | 1.0% | 1.2% | 0.4% | 0.4% |
| Asian | 4.7% | 4.2% | 4.7% | 4.7% | 5.7% | 5.0% | 5.0% | 5.4% | 4.9% | 4.7% | 4.9% | 4.7% | 5.4% | 5.8% |
| Hispanic | 1.2% | 1.2% | 1.3% | 1.6% | 1.5% | 1.6% | 2.6% | 2.3% | 1.8% | 2.0% | 2.2% | 2.4% | 2.6% | 2.9% |
Academic Units (Table 4)
Table 4 shows enrollment of survey respondents by academic unit and year. Again, no significant differences were found in college enrollment between survey respondents and the sophomore population in any of the four survey years.
Table 4: Trends in Academic Unit Enrollment of Population and Survey Respondents
| College/School | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2002 | 2004 | 2006 | 2008 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pop | Survey | Pop | Survey | Pop | Survey | Pop | Survey | Pop | Survey | Pop | Survey | Pop | Survey | |
| Engineering | 27.3% | 29.6% | 26.8% | 30.2% | 29.5% | 33.8% | 27.7% | 31.7% | 25.7% | 27.3% | 25.8% | 29.0% | 26.3% | 27.9% |
| Ag. and Life Sciences | 20.4% | 23.1% | 18.0% | 16.4% | 17.1% | 18.1% | 19.8% | 20.3% | 19.7% | 20.0% | 18.8% | 18.8% | 20.9% | 19.0% |
| Management | 13.4% | 11.0% | 13.2% | 15.6% | 12.8% | 11.3% | 13.1% | 10.9% | 13.1% | 10.6% | 13.9% | 12.1% | 13.3% | 13.3% |
| Humanities and Social Sciences | 12.5% | 11.0% | 12.2% | 9.4% | 12.8% | 11.1% | 17.6% | 17.1% | 20.5% | 22.4% | 18.4% | 18.9% | 16.3% | 18.2% |
| First Year College | 6.8% | 5.5% | 8.6% | 6.5% | 8.8% | 7.0% | 6.2% | 4.7% | 6.7% | 4.9% | 5.7% | 4.4% | 6.1% | 4.1% |
| Textiles | 4.8% | 5.0% | 4.5% | 4.4% | 4.2% | 4.3% | 3.8% | 3.3% | 2.1% | 2.6% | 3.7% | 3.4% | 4.4% | 3.7% |
| Education* | 4.4% | 3.9% | 4.8% | 4.7% | 5.0% | 5.3% | 1.8% | 2.3% | 2.4% | 3.0% | 2.7% | 3.3% | 3.7% | 3.9% |
| Natural Resources** | 3.7% | 3.6% | 4.1% | 3.8% | 3.3% | 2.6% | 2.9% | 3.2% | 3.9% | 3.4% | 4.0% | 3.2% | 3.6% | 4.0% |
| Design | 3.5% | 4.2% | 4.1% | 4.6% | 3.0% | 2.5% | 3.7% | 3.3% | 2.8% | 2.5% | 2.8% | 2.1% | 3.1% | 3.2% |
| Physical and Mathematical Sciences | 3.2% | 3.1% | 3.8% | 4.4% | 3.5% | 4.0% | 3.3% | 3.2% | 3.2% | 3.4% | 4.1% | 4.8% | 2.4% | 2.7% |
**In 1999, the College of Forest Resources changed its name to the College of Natural Resources.
Endnotes:
1. The term "racial/ethnic" is used throughout these reports
to recognize the potentially blurred distinction between the individual terms.
In application materials students were requested to identify themselves using
the following categories: Caucasion, African American or Black (not of Hispanic
origin), Native American Indian or Alaskan, Asian or Pacific Islander, or Hispanic
(Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or other Spanish origin
or culture, regardless of race). For analysis purposes, these categories were
collapsed into "White," "African American," and "other minorities." Starting in 2006,
respondents could also be classified as "multiracial" or refuse to provide their
race/ethnicity. Multiracial students and the very few students who preferred not to disclose
their race/ethnicity are included in the "other minorities" category.(back)
2. A 95 percent confidence interval denotes the range of
values which contains the true population value in 95 of 100 possible random
samples of the first-year student population. The margin of error given in the
text is conservative since it was calculated assuming a 50/50 response distrbution
for all questions. Margins of error for individual survey items are likely to
be even smaller becasue response distributions are rarely symmetrical. (back)
3. Questions requiring categorical responses were
analyzed with chi-square tests, and questions with numerically coded responses
were analyzed with either T-tests or one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with
Tukey's multiple comparison procedure. (back)
Dr. Nancy Whelchel, Associate Director for Survey Research
Office of Institutional Planning and Research
Box 7002
NCSU
Phone: (919) 515-4184
Email: Nancy_Whelchel@ncsu.edu
Posted: May 2010
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