Our new university president is interested in how people feel about various aspects of our university and about what will be needed when we downward expand.  We know that we cannot be all things to all people; not just any high school student is a potential freshman.  We don't know, however, exactly what kind of target market would have the greatest interest in us and what it is we should be doing to attract that market.  That is, there is some segment or some niche that is our market, but we have to determine the characteristics of that segment and what it needs and wants in a university.

Since the new campus is not guaranteed to have dormitories completed by the time that the first freshman class starts in 2010, we must constrain our immediate plans to attracting commuter-only students.  These new freshman commuter students are likely to be different than the upper division commuter students that we currently attract.  But we don't know just what it is that these students or their parents might want in a four-year school.  Would they consider committing to a four-year experience at our school if we had no sports teams?  How important is it to have on-campus entertainment such as concerts, plays, movies, and such? Is it important to have shopping, entertainment, and dining establishments near but off campus? How important is it to have clubs and social activities on campus?

One way to interview people is through telephone depth interviews.  Below is a letter that could be sent to our class client, the university president, to propose a TDI study.  On the assumption that our client agrees that a telephone survey should be conducted in the manner proposed in this letter, write the script for the TDI.  In the initial screener portion of the TDI, you are trying to recruit parents of high school students who live in the geographic region from which we would recruit our first non-resident (no dorms) freshman class.

Your survey must include a combination of quantitative measures as well as exploratory qualitative probes.  For the sake of a classroom assignment, your quantitative questions must include at least one each of a Likert scale, a semantic differential scale, and a nominal or ordinal scale of styles that were discussed in this course.  Do not invent your own kinds of scales. 

Refer to our Resident Focus Group Recruiting Screener assignment: your telephone survey must be based on the same general research objectives of that study as well as follow the same general issues of quota sampling.  In these telephone surveys, however, we would like to interview a total of 100 respondents with 75% being within the immediate area of Texarkana, and 25% from the outlying areas.

For a survey of this type, it is appropriate to offer a participation incentive via an honorarium.  For this study, indicate to the respondent that the survey is expected to take fifteen minutes and that an honorarium of $25 will be sent if the respondent qualifies to take the survey and completes the survey. 

Perceptions regarding confidentiality are crucial.  Therefore, you must include the following confidentiality statement in your initial offer to conduct the survey: "Your identity will not be shared with anyone.  Any lists or other information with your name will be shredded after this project is completed."

Note that it is likely that you would not be administering the survey yourself.  Therefore, anything is not meant to be read on the phone should be put in bold and capital letters.  Be sure to clearly identify branches and skips when needed.  Don't forget to identify your survey form with the study number and study title.

Dear Dr. Rathburn,

As a followup to our telephone conversation, here is a proposal to help find answers to the kinds of questions that you had.  Since we aren't certain of having dorms on the new campus by the time the first freshman class starts in 2010, our initial efforts for that class have to remain focused on commuter students.  We know that this freshman class will have expectations and needs that are different from our current upper division commuter students, but we don't know what those expectations and needs are.

Objectives

The present study would be an initial exploration into questions associated with what residents of Texarkana and the surrounding areas believe our campus needs in order to attract full-time freshman-level commuter students.

Methodology

Our proposal is to randomly call Texarkana area residents, limiting respondents to a sample of parents (or guardians) of high school students who live in the geographic region from which we would recruit our first non-resident (no dorms) freshman class.  The sample would include families within the confines of Texarkana and some families who live in areas that are in outlying areas (e.g., Ashdown, AR).  The respondent's location would be determined by asking the zip code as an initial screening question after the introduction.  Once past initial screening questions, we would continue to interview the respondent if s/he is willing.  The total number of respondents in the study would be 100, including 25 from outlying areas and 75 in the immediate vicinity.

Question Areas

Recommended survey flow is as follows:

1. Initial screening questions regarding the appropriateness of the person on the phone to participate in the survey would include whether or not they are a parent or guardian with at least one 15-18 year old child living in the household, where they live (in the immediate vicinity or an outlying area), and if they have lived in that zip code for at least two years.

2. Question(s) regarding household composition.

3. Question(s) regarding household income.

4. Question(s) regarding highest educational attainment for all household members.

5. Open-ended question regarding how Texas A&M University-Texarkana compares, good or bad, to any other school that someone might consider attending.

6. Question(s) regarding entertainment and recreational activities that would be required on the campus for a satisfactory student experience.

7. Question(s) regarding entertainment and recreational activities that should be available near the campus for a satisfactory student experience.

8. Question(s) regarding the importance of having sports activities on campus.

9. Question(s) regarding any other social activities that one would expect to be on campus.

Analysis

Some of the questions will be quantitative (e.g., attitude scales) and some questions will be qualitative (open ended).  We will provide you with a summary of the numerical averages of responses to quantitative questions, and will provide a written summary of the qualitative responses.  Where appropriate, these will be broken out by respondent demographics.

Timeline

Our estimated timeline is as follows:

Week 1: Write and edit a telephone questionnaire (in consultation with and approved by you).

Weeks 2 and 3: Conduct the telephone surveys.

Week 4: Compile and analyze data, write reports.

Week 5: Present results to you orally and in written report form.

Budget

Since the materials that we would consume are part of the normal, reasonable costs for a student, there will be no cost to your office for materials.  Since this is a student learning project, there also would be no cost to your office for time.  However, since we will have to make some long distance phone calls, you would have to allow these calls to be made from your budget.

Dr. Rathburn, please let me know if you need any additional information.  Thanks for the opportunity for students to work with you.

Sincerely,