North East Association for Institutional Research

Demographic questions (including social demographics like gender and programmatic demographics like major and class year) are an essential part of our survey ecosystem but are often left for last in survey planning. This workshop will help attendees rethink the role of demographic data; incorporate helpful guidance and resources from the US federal government; and ultimately draft survey items that reflect their institutional values, answer their current research questions, and support their long-term data strategy.

As an interactive workshop, attendees are invited to bring both their questions about demographic data and survey items they want to discuss with other IR professionals.

Participants in this session will

• assess strategies to simultaneously protect privacy and answer important research questions;
• examine how comparison across contexts and over time can shape demographic data choices; and
• identify two federal resources they can leverage in planning demographic data collection.

Intended Audience: Participants are expected to have basic knowledge of survey design and analysis including the difference between open- and closed-ended questions, awareness of survey burden, the ability to perform cross-tabulation of survey responses in any modern software system (or by hand), and introductory awareness of cognitive interviewing or other item validation techniques.

Format:  This is an Interactive Workshop: Participants will be able to interact with presenter and one another; these are not recorded.

Cost:  $40 Member; $100 Non-Member

Presenter: Trent Kennedy, Georgetown University