I loved reading the Waterloo SE class profile for this year's graduating class, which discusses their favourite teachers, academic decisions, and post-graduation plans. This year's survey was so long and detailed. It was honestly amazing. I'm glad they finally compared the salary differences between male and female classmates because previous years didn't highlight this. The net friends gained per semester graph was fantastically nerdy. I loved it.
But since the survey was so long, only 66/92 (72%) of the class submitted their answers, and only 45/92 (49%) of participants submitted their responses to an addendum survey.
Long surveys discourage people from answering. So how might future cohorts collect more responses?
One solution is to split up the questions into multiple, shorter surveys and send them out once each week. Participants will have to first log in to an online form using their WaterlooID, and once they've submitted their results, they'll be able to use their account again next week to answer the next set of questions.
The key is to incentivize people to respond by hosting the results from last week's survey on a pretty graph next to the questions.
Since we keep track of each individual's responses, people can update personal statistics that have changed throughout their closing semester. When they finally graduate, we can ask them to review their responses to verify that it's accurate. Once we publish the final report, we should delete all identifiable information used to create the dataset to protect people's privacy.
Overall, I love the detail in this year's survey. It's super fun to look at and was a great way to cap off their undergraduate degrees. I hope you have a great week!
- Curtis