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Copyright Shanna Smith & Tom Bohman (2003).
This work is the intellectual property of the authors. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes,
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Learning about your IT community via online surveys
Shanna E. Smith, Ph.D.
Thomas M. Bohman, Ph.D.ITS Research Consulting
The University of Texas at Austin
Four key topics
• Defining and maximizing survey benefits
• Online surveys: Advantages and disadvantages
• A multiple-method approach
• Realizing survey benefits
Potential Survey Benefits• Documents services
– Usage of current services– Perceived importance of services
• Evaluates services– General satisfaction– Problem areas
• Informs managerial decisions– Reactions to policy– Needs assessment and marketing
• Communicates care and concern
Designing to Maximize Benefits
• Buy-in is required– Sponsor– Other stakeholders– Developer
• Questions must be relevant and useful
• Questions should adhere to social science research guidelines and practices
• Sampling and data collection must be unbiased to allow generalization of results
Online Surveys
• Advantages:– Inexpensive, efficient data collection– Questionnaire flexibility
• Disadvantage:– Possibility of sample bias
Respondent currentlyuses• austin.utexas.edu or forum.utexas.edu• uts.cc.utexas.edu• a non-UT fee based account• and ‘my other e-mail account’
Online Surveys
• Advantages:– Inexpensive, efficient data collection– Questionnaire flexibility
• Disadvantage:– Possibility of sample bias
Generalizing to your Population
Population: all the people to whom you want
to apply your survey results. For example:
• All students who use computer labs at your University
• All student residents at your University
• All faculty teaching graduate courses at your University
Who might be more likely to respond to your online survey?
• People who more widely use computers and the Internet
• People who already use your services
A multiple-method strategy
• Choose a random sample• Send an initial contact through postal mail • E-mail all respondents with an invitation to
complete the survey online• For those without valid e-mail addresses,
send a paper version of the survey• Send reminders!• For those who do not respond within two
weeks, attempt a telephone interview
Realizing Survey Benefits
• Report results in timely, appropriate fashion– General results– Individualized reports for each stakeholder
• Acknowledge public feedback– Publicly available results– Press releases
• Keep interest piqued
ITS Survey 2002 Results Areas• Usage and Satisfaction: Familiarity, usage, satisfaction with core
services, e.g., Internet access, e-mail, Help Desk• Computer Labs: Usage of student computer labs and satisfaction with
lab software, hardware, proctor helpfulness, etc. • Technical Support: Types of computer problems experienced by
faculty and staff, and where they go for help• Computer Use: Purchase information, operating system, age, and other
details regarding home and office computers• Training: Necessity for various types of technical training and
preferences regarding training methods • UT Direct: Usage of UT Direct portal and its various components• Needs Assessment: Importance of e-mail, the campus network, and
other services to respondents' work at UT • Computer Security: Familiarity with ITS acceptable use policies,
usage of anti-virus software, password sharing behavior• Specific Issues: Questions of interest to particular Directors, e.g.,
familiarity with Microsoft Campus Agreement.
Example: the Help Desk and Instant Messaging
• Faculty and staff were more likely to use the Help Desk, but all groups who used it were uniformly satisfied with the service.
• Over half of the UT population uses Instant Messaging, but most of them are students.
Instant Messaging
0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%
Fac
ulty
Staf
f
Gra
ds
Und
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% useIM
• Undergraduates are most likely to use IM
• Undergraduates were most satisfied with IM (94% said they were ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’).
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