Assessment Methods for Student Affairs

✍ Scribed by Schuh, John H(Contributor);Upcraft, M Lee(Foreword)

• Publisher: Jossey-Bass
• Year: 2008
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 306
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Editor John Schuh and his fellow contributors, all experts in the field, detail the methodological aspects of conducting assessment projects specifically for the student affairs practitioner who is ready to conduct assessment projects, but is not quite sure how to manage their technical aspects. Using a variety of case studies and concrete examples to illustrate various assessment approaches, the authors lead the reader step-by-step through each phase of the assessment process with jargon-free, hands-on guidance.

✦ Table of Contents

Assessment Methods for Student Affairs......Page 1
Contents......Page 7
Tables, Figures, and Exhibits......Page 9
FOREWORD......Page 11
PREFACE......Page 13
Purpose of This Book......Page 14
Audience for This Book......Page 15
Some Caveats......Page 16
Overview of the Contents......Page 18
A Final Word......Page 21
ABOUT THE AUTHOR......Page 23
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS......Page 25
Chapter 1: ASSESSMENT AS AN ESSENTIAL DIMENSION OF CONTEMPORARY STUDENT AFFAIRS PRACTICE......Page 27
The Current Press for Accountability......Page 28
Linking Assessment to Organizational Functions in Student Affairs......Page 34
Getting Started in Assessment......Page 35
Framing Questions......Page 41
Some Illustrations of Assessment in Student Affairs......Page 43
Conclusion......Page 45
Chapter 2: USING EXISTING DATABASES......Page 49
Case Study......Page 51
External Data......Page 52
Internal Data......Page 61
Conclusion......Page 72
Chapter 3: PLANNING FOR AND IMPLEMENTING DATA COLLECTION......Page 77
Surveys and Questionnaires......Page 78
Interviews—Individual and Group......Page 90
Individual Interviews......Page 92
Focus Groups Interviews......Page 94
Observations......Page 96
Document Review......Page 99
Conclusion......Page 100
Chapter 4: SELECTING, SAMPLING, AND SOLICITING SUBJECTS......Page 103
What Is Sampling and Why Is It Important?......Page 105
Sampling Strategies for Focus Groups......Page 113
Survey Fatigue......Page 119
Conclusion......Page 128
Retention at Midwest State University......Page 133
Creating a Plan......Page 134
Selecting Quantitative or Qualitative Instruments......Page 136
What Type of Quantitative Instrument Is Best......Page 137
Identifying Published Instruments......Page 139
Developing Local Instruments......Page 142
Determining Quality for Quantitative Instruments......Page 148
Challenges to Selecting and Developing Quantitative Instruments......Page 152
Qualitative Approach......Page 153
Qualitative Instruments......Page 154
Challenges to Using Qualitative Instruments......Page 162
Conclusion......Page 164
What Do We Do with the Data?......Page 167
What Kinds of Things Can We Do with Student Affairs Data?......Page 171
An Example: Cross-Tabulation Analysis for Learning Communities and Student Retention......Page 178
Statistical Software......Page 182
Qualitative Data Analysis......Page 184
Getting Started......Page 185
Organizing and Preparing Qualitative Data......Page 186
Start Analysis with a Coding Process......Page 188
Determine How Categories and Themes Will Be Represented......Page 191
Interpreting and Making Meaning of the Data......Page 193
Ensuring Goodness, Trustworthiness, and Rigor in the Findings......Page 194
Conclusion......Page 195
Chapter 7: WRITING REPORTS AND CONDUCTING BRIEFINGS......Page 197
Assessing Academic Advisor Effectiveness at Mid South University......Page 198
Preparing the Written Report......Page 199
Preparing and Presenting the Oral Report......Page 209
Conclusion......Page 214
Chapter 8: ETHICS......Page 217
A Conceptual Framework for Thinking About Ethics in Assessment......Page 218
Informed Consent......Page 224
Other Selected Issues Related to Ethics......Page 228
Conclusion......Page 233
Chapter 9: USING A MIXED METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH TO ASSESSMENT......Page 237
Alumni Development at Easternmost College: Background Information......Page 239
Learning More About EMC Alumns: A Quantitative Study......Page 245
Learning Still More About EMC Alumns: A Qualitative Study......Page 249
Mixed Methodologies: Some Final Thoughts......Page 252
Increased Accountability......Page 257
Increased Use of Institutional Databases......Page 259
Increased Use of Other Databases such as the Integrated Post Secondary Education Data System and the Revamped Carnegie System......Page 261
Increased Use of Comparative Data and Data Exchanges......Page 262
Increased Levels of Accountability Will Require More Time for Collecting and Managing Databases......Page 263
Greater Use of Data in Decision Making......Page 264
Greater Demand for Transparency......Page 265
More Sophisticated Studies Will Be Conducted......Page 266
More Mixed Methods Studies......Page 267
Upgrading Skills Will Be a Growth Industry......Page 268
Human Subjects Scrutiny Will Continue to Increase......Page 270
Students Will Suffer from Survey Overload and Fatigue......Page 271
Conclusion......Page 272
Appendix 1: EXAMPLE OF A FOCUS GROUP PROTOCOL......Page 275
Appendix 2: USING MICROSOFT EXCEL TO DEVELOP A RANDOM SAMPLE AND A STRATIFIED RANDOM SAMPLE......Page 281
Appendix 3: LISTING OF COMMONLY USED INSTRUMENTS, PURPOSE, AND INFORMATION COLLECTED......Page 283
Appendix 4: COMPUTER SYNTAX CODE FOR TABLE 6.1......Page 287
Appendix 5: FURTHER EXPLANATION OF TABLE 6.2......Page 289
Appendix 6: SAMPLE METHODS PARAGRAPH......Page 291
Appendix 7: INFORMED CONSENT CHECKLIST: BASIC AND ADDITIONAL ELEMENTS......Page 293
Appendix 8: CODES OF ETHICS OF RELEVANT PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS TO CONDUCTING ASSESSMENT STUDIES IN STUDENT AFFAIRS......Page 295
Index......Page 297