Is now a good time? Surveying higher ed students in a pandemic

Is now a good time? Surveying higher ed students in a pandemic

One of the most common questions I am fielding today—with COVID-19 spreading across the nation, is now a good time to conduct surveys? Is the pandemic having an impact on response rates?

As one of my favorite grad school professors, Mick Couper, loved to say, “It depends.”

Whether one engages in a survey right now will depend on their current status. This may not be a good time to survey emergency department staff. Professionals who are engaged in conducting online surveys may also have their hands full of work (from home) and may not have much extra time to spare. But if you are surveying the general population, with exploding rates of unemployment, you may have better luck. Students in higher education have been ripped from their regular social routines and disconnected from others. They may welcome an opportunity to share their experiences . . .

read more
Surveying College Students with SMS: Is it Feasible?

Surveying College Students with SMS: Is it Feasible?

Text messages (also known as Short Message Service, or SMS) have become the go-to medium when contacting others. This is especially the case for today’s college students, who seem to conduct their social and even business lives completely via messaging service.

SoundRocket examined the data surrounding the efficacy of using SMS when surveying college students, resulting in presentation at a past American Association of Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) Conference.

read more
Republish from UNDARK: Where Scientific Mistakes Are Welcome

Republish from UNDARK: Where Scientific Mistakes Are Welcome

This is a first for the Launch Pad blog – a complete republish (with permission) of an article from another source.  The article included below hit on something that I feel strongly about – enough so that just a summary would not do it justice.  

Science is learning and growth in knowledge.  If we got it all “right” the first time, it would be a downright boring process (and not science!).  Science is about making mistakes, learning from them, and gradually (or sometimes not so gradually) improving on a shared general knowledge.

read more