Last semester, the Student Association conducted a survey to gauge student knowledge of and interest in the undergraduate student government, and the results are in. The wording of some of the questions and the tactics used to obtain responses, however, have raised questions concerning the validity of the results.
Students were asked to answer 55 questions to gain information on their opinions on various services that SA offers, as well as their involvement and overall knowledge of SA.
A total of 806 people completed the survey out of an undergraduate population of approximately 15,000 students. SA Vice President Jennifer Brace, who designed the survey, said it will help SA get to know the student body better and enable SA to advertise events and services more effectively.
"(The survey) helped us to target advertising to see who was most and least aware of the Student Association," said Brace.
In addition, Brace said the survey also allowed SA to test the effectiveness of conducting an online survey, since it was the first SA has administered.
"This was a test-run to see how the survey mechanism would work," said Brace. "We wanted to see the students' awareness."
Brace said the 806 respondents were a very large sample size and was happy with the turnout.
"We were thrilled that 800 people answered so quickly," said Brace.
Emily Sturnick, a sophomore psychology major, said she must have deleted the survey in her e-mail, because she was unaware it existed. She said she wishes she had been able to voice her opinion.
"I think that the SA would have been able to reach out to more people if they had handed it out in class," said Sturnick.
Brian David, a senior psychology major, said that an alternative option would be administering a survey of this type during SA elections.
"They have to do it somewhere that everyone on campus is involved," David said. "Otherwise, only certain people are answering it."
David said he felt the survey limited its results to the technologically savvy.
Jessica Haas, sophomore intended pharmacy major, said she wishes more time and effort had been put into the survey. While Haas said this could be a valuable tool for UB, the next survey needs to reach a broader percentage of students.
"I don't believe that 800 people is an adequate representation of the UB population at large," she said.
Gregory Wilding, assistant professor of biostatistics, said that the number of respondents to a survey would effect its outcome.
"When you give out the survey, you are gathering a sample of individuals," said Wilding. "They are trying to make an intelligent statement about 15,000 people based on 800. You want to make sure that your survey group is representative of the entire UB population."
One of the questions asked students where they lived: on-campus, in an apartment, or at home. SA found that on-campus students had a greater awareness of SA activities than did commuters.
Wilding said questions like this did not account for all housing possibilities.
"If I am not a Buffalo native, and live in a house, there is no option for me," he said. "You do not want to be in a situation where someone cannot answer a question."
The survey included questions about survey participants and their opinions about UB food services and SA service usage.
According to Wilding, to accurately represent an entire population, every respondent must have the opportunity to adequately answer a question. One of the flaws he noted in the SA survey was that although the questions were multiple-choice, the survey allowed students to fill in their own option labeled "other."
While students may have the opportunity to voice their exact opinion, Wilding disagreed with the fact that all of the answers labeled "other" were grouped into a single percentage, regardless of their content.
As an incentive to participate in the survey, the Student Association randomly awarded one of the participants a free Spring Break trip.
According to Brace, this tactic is a standard marketing tactic that would have no affect on the outcome of the answers.
"Most people would fill out the survey anyway," she said.
Wilding said the trip may have motivated some students, but may not have appealed to everyone.
"Sometimes you need to offer that kind of motivation to help people justify the time they take to complete the survey," Wilding said. "However, in most surveys, you do not see that. People are often afraid that prizes would bias a group. You probably should avoid it."
Students were asked to rate the importance of some SA services, although the services being evaluated were not necessarily related. One question asked students to provide one rating for the importance of Spring Break trips as well as the Safe Ride Bus.
Wilding said the combination of a recreational event and a safety initiative in a single question could skew the results, depending on the data the question hopes to extract.
Despite the fact that these are two seemingly unrelated activities, Brace said both are SA-offered services.
"It was really just to see if students prioritized advocacy, services and activities, or shows the most," she said.
Malaika Michel, a senior chemical engineering major, did not fill out that particular survey but said she would be interested in responding to future SA surveys.
"I think that a survey is the best way to find out about the student population," said Michel. "I like how the Student Association has made themselves more accessible to the student body over the past year."
SA will release a second survey this week to find out what bands students would like to see at Spring Fest. The survey will be available online at www.sa.buffalo.edu.
Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
