Accessing National Surveys with Electronic Research Sources (ANSWERS)

SHEEO/NCES Network Conference& IPEDS WorkshopMay 24, 2001

John MilamUniversity of Virginia

Presentation Topics• Introduction to project, w/ purpose & audiences• Project funding & support info• Working group• Discussion of completed activities• Status report – other activities• What ANSWERS has to offer SHEEOs• How to find the ANSWERS –

site demonstrationhttp://nces.ed.gov/npec/answers

Purpose• Describe & analyze information on frequently

used surveys of higher education institutions• Promote better use of the national datasets• Provide a compendium of definitions and

questions for best practices in survey development

• Reduce data collection burden• Improve comparability of data across surveys

with de facto standards

Audiences• Survey developers• Institutional researchers and planners• Policy analysts• Associations• SHEEOs/State agencies• Federal education agencies• The Media

Project Info• Funded by NCES through NPEC• Nearing end of second year• Funding set for year 3• Working Group headed by Deb Teeter• NPEC support from NCES & Westat• Project housed at University of Virginia• John Milam as Project Director/P.I.• URL is: http://nces.ed.gov/npec/answers

Vic Borden (IUPUI)Nancy Borkow (NCES)Susan Broyles (NCES)Dennis Carroll (NCES)Jason Casey (HEDS)Mark Chisholm (U. New Mexico)Rene Gernand (College Board)Denise Glover (Westat)Jacqueline King (ACE)Roslyn Korb (NCES)Hans L’Orange (SHEEO/NCES)Meredith Ludwig (ESSI/NCES)Tod Massa (Willamette Univ)

Sally Mydlowec (Manor Junior College)

Sam Peng (NCES)Travis Reindl (AASCU)Paula Reis (NCHEMS)Terry Russell (AIR)Mary Sapp (Univ. of Miami)Alan Sturtz (Conn. State Univ.

System)Deb Teeter (Univ of Kansas)Bob Wallhaus (NPEC)Jeff Weber (Indiana Comm. for

Higher Ed)

Working Group

Completed Activities• Site housed on NCES server w/ ASP &

SQL Server software• Provides info on core survey developers• Inventory of national, non-standard surveys• Analyzes the data dictionaries of major

surveys & puts in usable format• Offers a matrix of data sources by topic• Provides citations about survey

development and using the national datasets

Completed Activities – cont.

• Provides a critical analysis & comparison of definitions and survey questions

• Provided feedback to the VIOLIN project about needs for data and burden reduction

• Promoting the ANSWERS products to intended audiences w/ special audience pages

• Evaluating the success, site usage, & limitations of the project and products

Status report – other activities• Provide technical assistance to users with

online help & tutorials• Provide “bridge pages” between ANSWERS

and the actual data to help users go the next step

• Provide calendar of data collections• Add additional surveys to matrix & inventory• Refine content analysis for listing by topic• Help convene groups of federal & state users

to share data and promote burden reduction

What does ANSWERS have to offer SHEEOs?

• Need data quickly?• Find data for performance indicators?• Resolve problems with a dataset?• Address concern over dirty data?• Address heavy reporting burden?• Construct a new survey?• Find best definition?• ????

How to find the ANSWERS?

• http://nces.ed.gov/npec/answers

Contact Info• John Milam

Research Associate ProfessorCurry School of EducationUniversity of Virginia405 Emmet St. SouthP.O. Box 400265Charlottesville, VA 22903-4265

(804) 243-8746jmilam@virginia.edu

Internet Resources for Institutional Researchhttp://airweb.org/links