While the use of the telephone has increased as a means of collecting research data in a range of areas, there are few examples of studies where telephone interviews have been conducted to collect qualitative data. The field of educational research is no exception to this. This paper focuses on a study carried out in Higher Education (HE)…

The Intercollegiate Studies Institute report, "The Shaping of the American Mind: The Diverging Influences of the College Degree & Civic Learning on American Beliefs," suggests that college is failing to provide an adequate education in civic knowledge and is also influencing graduates to become less supportive of American values.…

Unit nonresponse causes bias in survey estimates when the outcomes of respondents and nonrespondents are different. In the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study of 1999-2000 (NPSAS:2000) there were three levels of response, one of which was computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI) response. Because the response rates were less than 70% in…

This document provides a summary and evaluation of the methodological procedures and results of the full-scale implementation of the Beginning Postsecondary Student Longitudinal Study Second Follow-up, 1990-94 (BPS:90/94). The study was conducted for the National Center for Education Statistics by Research Triangle Institute with the assistance of…

This digest reviews the basic building blocks of a structured interview, points out some of the pitfalls in interviewing, and suggests ways for researchers to avoid these difficulties to produce questions that have the best possibility of generating reliable and accurate data on the topics of interest. The data collection instrument is a document…

This article provides ideas on how to conduct alumni telephone surveys: (1) use the information gathered; (2) implement a survey; (3) develop appropriate questions; (4) test a survey instrument; (5) train interviewers; (6) collect the data; (7) analyze the results; (8) report the results; and (9) use the results to take action. (MDM)

Historically, data have been collected from survey participants through a paper-and-pencil questionnaire or through interviews in person or on the telephone. This study compares the use of a new approach, interactive telephone data collection (ITDCT) to traditional paper-and-pencil collection. ITDCT administers survey items through a digitized…

This paper provides an overview of telephone survey research by colleges and universities and reports on comparisons between mail survey respondents and non-respondents who were later contacted by telephone. After an introduction, the paper discusses the various steps of a telephone survey project. These include: (1) identifying the population to…

This report describes the methods and procedures used for the 1996 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:96). NPSAS:96, which surveyed over 830 postsecondary education institutions and over 34,000 students and parents, included important changes from previous NPSAS studies conducted in 1987, 1990, and 1993 in its sample design and data…

This paper describes empirically tested strategies for containing mailed questionnaire costs while maximizing survey response rates. Survey focus, critical to gaining respondent interest and completion of the survey instrument, should be selected on the basis of the theme of the study in order to reduce survey length and yield more in-depth and…

The National Household Education Survey (NHES) is a telephone interview survey that has been conducted in the spring of 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, and 1999. The 1999 NHES was a compilation of survey items from previous years that included three interviews, resulting in three data files. One of these components was the Youth Interview, in which…

This report describes and evaluates the methods, procedures, techniques, and activities that produced the fourth (1992) follow-up of the High School and Beyond (HS&B) study. HS&B began in 1980 as the successor to the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972. The original collection techniques of HS&B were replaced…

The National Household Education Survey (NHES) is a telephone interview survey that has been conducted in the spring of 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, and 1999. The 1999 NHES was a compilation of survey items from previous years that included three interviews, resulting in three data files. The first is the Parent Interview, in which data were collected…

This report presents results of a survey of 354 Economic and Medical Field Services (EMFS) division social workers in Washington State. The survey investigated their needs for graduate level academic credit from professional training provided by Western Washington University (WWU), as well as matters of credit utility and institutional and…