The popularity of online student surveys has been associated with greater item nonresponse. This chapter presents research aimed at exploring what factors might help minimize item nonresponse, such as altering online survey page length and using progress indicators.

This chapter examines the relationship between student self-reported gains and college satisfaction, and it considers whether self-reported gains constitute a form of college satisfaction.

Item Response Theory (IRT) is a measurement theory that is ideal for scale and test development in institutional research, but it is not without its drawbacks. This chapter provides an overview of IRT, describes an example of its use, and highlights the pros and cons of using IRT in applied settings.

This chapter discusses an experimental study that shows that the order of items on a questionnaire and the response options for those items both affect the results of college student surveys.

College student self-reported gains are used frequently in institutional research and in general research on college outcomes (Gonyea, 2005). These self-report measures serve not only to identify experiences and programs associated with student growth but also to draw comparisons across colleges and universities. The vast majority of institutions…

Colleges and universities are increasingly using national surveys to assess their students' learning and development. Given the importance of the first year of college for student adjustment and retention (Tinto, 1993), some of these surveys are designed specifically to gauge the experiences and outcomes of first-year students. These large-scale…

Decades of research in survey methodology and psychology have yielded important insights about how to create effective and valid survey instruments. As Porter (in press) has argued convincingly, college student surveys often fall well short of these standards by placing unrealistic demands on students' memory and by assuming that students readily…

To determine the impact of college experiences, it is critical to have measures of student learning and development that are valid, reliable, and affordable. Data on student outcomes are useful not only to institutions that want to assess their students' growth but also to external constituencies, such as federal and state governments, that demand…