The Survey Process
Survey Results
Rest assured that your overall alumni response rate using the AAS survey will fall within a well-established range. We statistically assess the number of alumni needed from each diverse segment in order to give you an accurate snapshot of the makeup of your alumni and their corresponding opinions. In short, we do the math to prevent potential holes in your data! The picture you get from your survey’s responses will accurately and completely depict your alumni universe.
Additionally, our team of professionals in institutional research, alumni relations, communications, and development will analyze your results to augment your own internal evaluation. We know that the more you understand your alumni, the more effective, responsive action you can take to engage them further.
The Study provides a credible, quantitative, and powerful method for assessing alumni opinions and perceptions. Our clients go beyond the limited insight of anecdotal evidence and hearsay to measure and compare their alumni opinions objectively and thoughtfully.
- Depend on the Study’s validity – use it to target and improve communication and messages across direct mail, annual fund, phone campaigns, and more.
- Trust the Study’s results and findings – AAS ensures that each alumni segment is adequately represented.
- Compare your results with those from similar institutions – find out where you fit in the range of results and findings from peer universities.
- Be confident in the instrument’s effectiveness – more than 90 past participants have verified it.
Sophisticated statistical considerations ensure reliability.
- The Study uses random sampling and distribution to guarantee that your data reflect how your alumni actually feel.
- To alleviate non-response bias, the Study distributes surveys appropriately across membership status, age, and gender, and consistently ranks question groups.
- By keeping your institution’s email address database up-to-date, you can survey a truly random, representative sample where each member of the population has an equal opportunity to be selected (eliminating selection bias).
- By ensuring an adequate number and variation of responses for each alumni segment, AAS surveys carry a high confidence interval.*
*Confidence interval is a computation based on the number and variation of responses (not response percentage) and assumes random distribution and equal opportunity to respond.
Getting Results
All good research projects balance the cost of research against the desired level of detail and precision.
We recommend that you use survey findings and results that suggest action on key alumni issues to augment other processes already in place at your institution.
The AAS’ unique survey methodology also helps clients assess urgency and rank respondents’ key issues. Previous AAS participants routinely assess the statistical analytics used for correlation/regression and factoring, ensuring accuracy at every level.
To ensure reliability and confidence in the results, a sufficient response rate and total number of responses in each alumni segment is crucial. The AAS has distributed more than 500,000 surveys via internet/email, phone, and direct mail. As this chart shows, AAS’s average response rate is almost 20%. Typically, response rates vary from 10-35% due to survey length, overall alumni loyalty, distribution method, timing, and promotion.