Take The Class Survey Now!
I just finished taking the “beta test” version of the Class Survey — you know, the one for the 50th Reunion. It will show how we, as a group, have changed over the years. More importantly, it will catalogue what we are doing NOW — and what plans and dreams lie ahead.
I can report that the Survey itself is really excellent. It was simultaneously fun and thoughtful! I’m very eager to see the aggregated results, which will be presented at the Reunion and in the 50th Reunion ClassBook.
The Class Survey Committee (Reed Hundt, Mike Baum, Richard Tedlow, and Tom Guterbock) worked hard over the last 6-8 months to create the survey. Because Tom is both a Ph.D. sociologist, university professor and Director of the Center For Survey Research (CSR) at the University of Virginia and because Mike has dealt closely with a lot of surveys in his educational consulting work, we were in great hands.
When the Committee wanted to delve into certain areas, it didn’t know how to proceed or exactly what to ask. Mike, Tom and his team did; they know how to ask non-biased questions and get valid and reliable results.
Tom’s experience and the Committee’s instincts quickly got us to the key design decisions:
- The survey will be conducted anonymously. Class members will let CSR know that they’ve completed the survey using a completely separate web tool; and the raw data will be kept securely at CSR and not shared with Yale, the Class of ’69 or anybody else.
- The survey, which takes about 25 minutes to fill out, can be broken up into more than one sitting, in case you want to think about something or take a break.
- The combination of background questions and reports about each individual’s life experiences, current situation and future plans will allow the staff of CSR to investigate some really interesting correlations in the aggregated data.
Tom outlined some more about the design last month in “A 50th Reunion Survey? What’s So Hard?” It’s worth a reading if you have further questions.
You can learn more about WHY the Committee decided to do a Class Survey by reading Reed Hundt’s “Why Have A Class Survey?”
Gentlemen, in short, we have the benefit of a VERY professional — and fun — design. This survey is well worth taking. And the more of us who take it, the better (more valid, more reliable, more statistically significant) will be the reports.
So, if you have a half hour right now, jump over to the survey and get started!