North Carolina State University
Graduating Senior Survey Trends, 1995-2004:
Introduction, Methods, and Student Demographic Profile

Introduction

This series of reports presents findings from Graduating Senior Survey data collected in 1995-2004. Students from all nine undergraduate academic units conferring degrees are included. This introductory report describes the survey's methodology and provides a demographic profile of survey respondents. It compares gender, race/ethnicity1, and academic unit of survey respondents over the ten years covered. This report is followed by an overview of Graduating Senior Survey trends. Summary statistics are presented for each survey topic, including student goals and intentions, academic environment and faculty contributions, campus climate, services for students, NC State's contribution to student development, and employment and extra-curricular involvement. Data on some survey items are unavailable for certain years due to changes in the survey instrument over time. These changes are documented within the overview report. This series of reports is available on the web at gsstrendtoc.htm.

Survey Methods

Population

In 1995-2000, the survey was administered to all NC State seniors planning to graduate in May. Beginning in academic year 2000-2001, both December and May graduates were included in the survey population2. In 1998, survey results are based on respondents who had applied for graduation as of March 30th 1998, and therefore include some students who did not actually graduate. In other years, results are based on only those respondents who actually graduated. Results of a separate analysis indicate that this difference in respondent base does not impact survey results.

Students completed surveys either as part of the "Application for Degree" process or through other methods, such as in a required senior seminar or during exit interviews. In AY00-01 and AY01-02, the survey was administered via the Web as well as on paper, with departments selecting the survey mode best suited to their needs. Beginning in AY02-03, the survey was administered via the Web only.

Respondents (Table 1)

There were 25,894 graduates eligible to participate in the Graduating Senior Survey between 1995 and 2004. Completed surveys were obtained from 15,403 of these graduates. Table 1 presents a breakdown of the number of surveys collected in each year along with information on the response rate and margin of error. Response rates range from a low of 50.5 percent in 1999 to a high of 69.9 percent in AY02-03. Because large numbers of seniors were surveyed every year, and the response rates are generally high, the margin of error for survey results in each year is low -- under 2 percent at a 95 percent confidence interval3. The total sample used in this trend analysis represents 59.5 percent of graduates during the study years (May only in 1995-2000, December and May in AY00-01 through AY03-04). The margin of error for the entire trend analysis sample is +0.3 percent at the 95 percent confidence interval.

Table 1: Response Rates and Margin of Error for Senior Surveys, 1995-2004

Year

Graduating Class
(N)

Survey Respondents
(N)

Response Rate
(%)

Margin of Error

Spring 1995

2,098

1,094

52.1%

+1.4

Spring 1996

2,019

1,044

51.7%

+1.5

Spring 1997

1,875

1,002

53.4%

+1.4

Spring 1998

2,028

1,094

53.9%

+1.4

Spring 1999

1,896

957

50.5%

+1.6

Spring 2000

2,041

1,290

63.2%

+1.0

AY 2000-2001

3,254

2,031

62.4%

+0.8

AY 2001-2002

3,360

1,980

58.9%

+0.8

AY 2002-2003

3,639

2,543

69.9%

+0.6

AY 2003-2004

3,684

2,368

64.3%

+0.7

Total

25,894

15,403

59.5%

+0.3

Analyses

The data were analyzed using standard statistical methods. In analyses not presented in these reports, responses were tested to determine whether there were significant differences in responses to survey items across years4. Complete results are available from UPA upon request.

These reports attempt to provide a level of detail that makes the data more accessible and interpretable to the novice data user. A primary purpose is to highlight patterns found in responses to related question items or across years. Such consistencies among items or across years are usually more important for understanding the data than are the sizes of the differences between individual pairs of ratings or, to some extent, whether the differences are statistically significant. While some individual differences might be statistically significant, they may not be substantively meaningful. On the other hand, when even relatively small differences yield consistent patterns within a similar series of questions, the results are potentially more telling.

Demographics of the Survey Respondents, 1995-2004

Gender and Race/Ethnicity (Tables 2 and 3)

With one exception, in each year, tests of statistical significance reveal no significant gender or racial/ethnic differences between the survey sample and graduating senior population for that year. In 2004, women were slightly overrepresented among survey respondents. Women made up 43.7 percent of the senior class population, compared to 47.6 percent of the survey respondents. Overall, changes in the gender and racial/ethnic make-up of survey respondents over time have generally reflected changes in the gender and racial/ethnic make-up of NC State graduating seniors. Thus, the results obtained from the survey sample may be regarded as broadly representative of the entire group of graduating seniors5. Males comprised more than half but less than 60 percent of the survey sample in each year. The percentage of female survey respondents increased between 1995 and 2000, decreased in 2001, and increased in 2002 through 2004. The racial composition of respondents has fluctuated slightly over time, with whites comprising 84 to 91 percent, African Americans 4 to 8 percent, and non-African American minorities 3 to 9 percent of the survey sample. Since 1995, the proportion of minority respondents has increased.

Table 2: Trends in Gender Composition of Survey Respondents

Gender

Year

1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Female 41.4% 41.7% 42.4% 44.0% 43.7% 48.3% 42.1% 44.2% 46.2% 47.6%
Male 58.6% 58.3% 57.6% 56.0% 56.3% 51.7% 57.9% 55.8% 53.8% 52.4%

Table 3: Trends in Racial/Ethnic Composition of Survey Respondents

Race/Ethnicity

Year

1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
White 90.3% 90.7% 89.0% 86.7% 87.6% 87.1% 84.8% 84.8% 84.4% 83.7%
African American 4.0% 6.0% 5.6% 6.1% 6.1% 6.7% 6.8% 7.9% 7.6% 7.6%
Other Minorities 5.7% 3.4% 5.4% 7.1% 6.4% 6.2% 8.4% 7.3% 8.0% 8.7%

Academic Units (Table 4)

Table 4 shows enrollment of survey respondents by academic unit and year6. In three of the ten survey years included, there are no significant differences in academic unit enrollment between the survey respondents and the senior class. In 1997, 1999, and 2000 the College of Humanities and Social Sciences was under-represented due to a low response rate. In 2001, 2002, and 2003, the Colleges of Textiles and Design were under-represented. In 2003, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences was slightly under-represented. In 2004, the colleges of Design and Education were slighty under-represented. Various colleges were over-represented during these years due to a relatively high response rate (Natural Resources in 1997, Management in 1999, Engineering in 2000, 2001, and 2002, Education/Psychology in 2001, Humanities and Social Sciences in 2003 and 2004, and Textiles in 2004). The proportion of respondents in the various colleges fluctuated a great deal during the ten survey years with few discernible trends.

Table 4: Percentage of Survey Respondents Enrolled in Each Academic College, by Year

College/School

Year

1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Agriculture and Life Science 16.3% 20.4% 22.9% 17.5% 20.1% 17.8% 14.6% 17.9% 13.4% 16.6%
Design 3.4% 4.5% 4.2% 2.0% 2.7% 3.8% 2.3% 0.7% 1.6% 1.2%
Education* 5.7% 6.5% 4.5% 6.3% 4.3% 8.0% 7.5% 3.0% 1.9% 1.2%
Engineering 37.2% 29.4% 26.5% 28.7% 19.0% 28.4% 31.6% 32.1% 28.5% 25.5%
Natural Resources** 5.9% 6.3% 6.9% 4.1% 7.0% 3.7% 6.2% 4.6% 5.0% 3.6%
Humanities and Social
Sciences***
14.0% 14.0% 12.9% 16.4% 10.2% 11.9% 12.6% 22.5% 26.5% 28.3%
Physical and Mathematical
Sciences
4.4% 5.7% 6.4% 4.8% 6.8% 4.3% 3.9% 3.6% 3.9% 4.2%
Textiles 3.7% 5.7% 4.5% 6.9% 7.9% 4.2% 2.7% 2.7% 2.7% 3.8%
Management 9.5% 7.5% 11.1% 13.3% 21.9% 17.9% 18.7% 12.8% 16.6% 15.6%
Total 100.1% 100.0% 99.9% 100.0% 99.9% 100.0% 100.1% 99.9% 100.1% 100.0%

*From 1995 to 2000, the College of Education included Psychology.
**In 1999, the College of Forest Resources changed its name to the College of Natural Resources.
***In 2001, Psychology was added to the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.



Endnotes
1. The term "racial/ethnic" is used throughout these reports to recognize the potentially blurred distinction between the individual terms. In application materials students were requested to identify themselves using the following categories: Caucasian, African American or Black (not of Hispanic origin), Native American Indian or Alaskan, Asian or Pacific Islander, or Hispanic (Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or other Spanish origin or culture, regardless of race). For analysis purposes, these categories were collapsed into "White," "African American," and "other minorities."(back)
2. Throughout these reports, the 2000-2001 survey will be referred to as the '2001' survey, 2001-2002 as '2002,' 2002-2003 as '2003,' and 2003-2004 as '2004,' to avoid confusion and to simplify. (back)
3. A 95 percent confidence interval denotes the range of values which contains the true population value in 95 of 100 possible random samples of the graduating senior population. The margin of error given in the text is conservative since it was calculated assuming a 50/50 response distribution for all questions. Margins of error for individual survey items are likely to be even smaller because response distributions are rarely symmetrical. (back)
4. Questions requiring categorical responses were analyzed with chi-square tests, and questions with numerically coded responses were analyzed with either T-tests or one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Tukey's multiple comparison procedure. (back)
5. See individual Graduating Senior Survey reports for information on demographic characteristics of graduates.(back)
6. See individual Graduating Senior Survey reports for detailed information on college response rates.(back)



For more information on trends in the Graduating Senior Survey contact:
Dr. Nancy Whelchel, Associate Director for Survey Research
Office of Institutional Planning and Research
Campus Box 7002
North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC 27965-7002
Phone: (919) 515-4184
Email: Nancy_Whelchel@ncsu.edu

Posted: March, 2005

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