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TABLE ID-1
SURVEY SAMPLE BY SEMESTER, YEAR IN PROGRAM, AND SEX
(Response rate out of total enrolled in parentheses)
Semester of Survey
Year in Program Fall 2000 Spring 2001 Completed Both
Surveys
First-year 102 (84%) a
85 83
Sophomore 99 (84%) 91 84
Junior 82 (100%) 62 60
Senior 49 (80%) 65 59
Total 332 (86%) 303 283
a
Number in parenthesis indicates percentage out of total enrolled in this cell at time of survey.
Questionnaires were distributed in required classes, thus ensuring a high response rate
(average of 86%). However, some students were absent and could not be reached within a
reasonable amount of time to complete the survey. An effort was made to track the
missing students (through email and phone contact) to give them the survey at a special
time within the next two weeks. Some of the students were not enrolled in required
classes and thus missed the survey; some were not enrolled in any engineering classes
and in fact were only formally still enrolled in the major; some were ill or had taken a
leave of absence. All in all, this is a more complete cross-section of students than many
of the recent surveys conducted in engineering schools (for instance, Thorsen et. al.
report response rates of under 20% for their 1997 engineering student survey and for their
1993 senior engineering women survey. Cunningham et. al. (2002) report a higher
response rate of 66% from their web-based survey, but only women are included in their
study).
ID-48