September 29, 2004
Institute offers experience in growth field of client surveys
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Students from a wide range of disciplines such as pharmacy administration and consumer sciences and retailing can get experience doing client surveys at Purdue University's Social Research Institute.
"Polling and data collection are part of a growing business trend," said John Stahura, professor of sociology and director of the Social Research Institute. "Research centers and industry alike are looking for these kinds of employees."
While working on a certificate in survey research, graduate and undergraduate students are hired to do all aspects of survey research. They learn to conduct telephone interviews and construct questionnaires, both using standard paper-and-pencil surveys and computer-assisted interviewing, in addition to Web surveys and e-mail surveys.
Students gain hands-on experience in programming and project management. Each interviewer goes through 20 hours of training plus an additional 20 hours of actual telephone interviewing before they can work on a client study. Most interviewers complete a graduate course in survey research methods including participation in a national telephone survey.
The institute, which is affiliated with the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, started taking clients two years ago. Recent projects have been a study of second-hand smoke for the Tippecanoe Tobacco Control Partnership, a marketing survey for the Tourism Bureau of Harrison County, Ind., and a survey of CEOs from hospitals that are members of Indiana Health and Hospital Association for the Regenstrief Institute for Healthcare.
The program is open to all graduate students, who will be given a graduate certificate in survey research from the graduate school. The certificate helps participants find work in the profession, Stahura said. One student who completed the graduate certificate has gone on to work for IBM as a database/survey software specialist. An undergraduate who worked in SRI has gone on to work for the state of Michigan as a survey specialist.
"It's a real growth industry," Stahura said. "There are tons of jobs in the data collection business."
CONTACT: Stahura, (765) 494-4694, stahuraj@soc.purdue.edu
Writer: Maggie Morris, (765)494-2432, news.writer@purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
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