The purpose of this study is to address the gaps in the literature and compare the job satisfaction between school leavers and college graduates. Specifically, the proposed study sought to expand the existing, yet limited research exploring job satisfaction between school-leavers and college graduates. In this study, the comparison includes these…

Competitions are used by many teachers at the grass roots level to develop the talents of their gifted students. Each year the top Math, Chemistry, and Physics Olympiad students are identified and assembled into national teams that compete against teams from around the world. This article summarizes findings from the American Olympiad study. Our…

A follow-up study of recent graduates of the College of Education at the University of New Orleans was developed to continue the organized assessment program of the College. Information gathered by the investigation is intended to provide the basis for revision of the undergraduate teacher education program and the development of effective…

This study attempted to identify desirable mail questionnaire characteristics as perceived by those who conduct successful surveys (those with a high return rate) of teacher education program graduates. The data pool consisted of 80 questionnaires completed by individuals at teacher education institutions nationwide. Eighteen items were perceived…

Results of two studies, involving surveys of alumni of postsecondary institutions, are presented to assess the effect of format and typeface on mail survey response rates. The first study focused on the effect of booklet/folder format versus stapled sheets. The method of reproduction, page content, page size, and appearance of the questionnaires…

The results of a questionnaire returned by 77 foreign graduates of U.S. advanced-degree agricultural programs are discussed. Areas covered included how the graduates felt about their U.S. education, what they are currently doing, and what type of assistance they need in their current jobs. (MLH)

With the increased use of the follow-up study on graduates, it has become necessary to research and compare the results of alternative methods of data collection on a diverse student population. The purpose of this study is to determine the most effective data collection method by examining the rate and nature of responses and the cost of three…

This study attempted to examined how well seminary training prepares ministers for their role. A questionnaire-survey was developed and completed by 400 senior pastors of mainline denominational churches in California. Close-ended items were analyzed statistically and responses to open-ended questions were evaluated and categorized. Findings…

Alumni surveys were sent to one-year alumni from a large, public research university to determine the survey format that resulted in the best response rates and the least response bias. Surveys differed in whether they were check-box or machine-scannable (optical mark recognition, or OMR) and in whether it was possible to use a Web site to…

Analyses of questionnaire data from a program evaluation indicate that the two dichotomous items "Would you recommend this to a friend?" and "Would you choose to do this again?" are not as interchangeable as might be expected from the survey literature. As part of the evaluation of a university program, a survey of graduates…

Graduates' perceptions concerning the value of required research experience in orthodontic postdoctoral programs were determined. Factors in the postdoctoral research program that provided positive/negative experiences were also identified. Fifteen attitude statements concerning the merits of required research projects and demographic items on the…

This study of teacher education graduate follow-up surveys examined the relationship between response rate and number of graduates, questionnaire length, and follow-up contacts. Also, the study investigated survey practices differentiating between surveys which had high and low return rates in such areas as number of follow-up contacts,…

This inquiry was conducted to examine influences on perceptions of survey subjects regarding ideographic characteristics of the subjects, incentives to enhance mail returns, and multiple requests for information. A mail survey sent to 297 former education students from a large university produced responses from 48.3% of the sample. The ideographic…

The perceived benefits of college as reported by alumni from 55 postsecondary institutions in the United States were surveyed during 1980-1982 using the Alumni Survey of the American College Testing (ACT) Program. Findings were analyzed for the total group of 12,682 and for subgroups based on college size, student sex, student major area, number…

This analysis illustrates how alumni survey research can assess outcomes for graduates of master's degree programs and also be responsive to program goals, policy concerns of administrators, instructional values of the faculty, and standards of professional practice. Issues related to survey design and analysis are discussed, based on a study of…