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University of Massachusetts Amherst
SARIS - Student Affairs Research, Information & Systems
Housing Services Web Site Survey (S00-F)
Executive summary: Approximately one-quarter of respondents have visited the Housing Services web site, and men were more likely than women to have done so. While deciding which college to attend first-year students reported that they were more likely to have used written materials (85%) or the phone (35%), than the web site (11%). When asked to rate the importance of various kinds of information that might be available on the new Housing Services web site, respondents gave highest ratings to information on computer data communications, what to do about roommate conflicts, the room selection process, options for choosing roommates, and safety and security issues.
On Tuesday, April 25, 2000, Project Pulse conducted a telephone survey for Housing Services in order to investigate students’ ideas regarding Housing Services’ new informational web site. Pulse interviewers attempted to contact 984 students who were randomly selected by computer from among on-campus residents in the University’s database. Interviewers successfully contacted 601 students and 472 (78.5%) agreed to be interviewed. The response rate for the survey was 48.0% and the sampling error is plus or minus approximately five percentage points. The final disposition of the sample is presented in Table 1 and a demographic summary of the respondents is presented in Table 2.
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Table 1. Final disposition
of the sample
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|||
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|
N
|
% of Total
|
% of Contacted
|
| Response rate (In & cooperated) |
472
|
48.0
|
78.5
|
| In, declined interview |
129
|
13.1
|
21.5
|
| Not in |
383
|
38.9
|
|
| Totals |
*984
|
100.0
|
100.0
|
|
* Excludes 8 sampled students
with unobtainable phone numbers.
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|||
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Table 2. Demographic
summary of the respondents
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|
|
%
|
|
| Female |
56.7
|
| Male |
43.3
|
| First-year |
45.2
|
| Sophomore |
34.9
|
| Junior |
13.5
|
| Senior |
6.3
|
| Average age = 19.52 years | |
Almost one-quarter of the respondents (23.0%, n=108) reported having visited the UMass Housing Services web site. Men were significantly more likely than women (29.4% v. 18.1%, c2= 8.3, p=.004) to have visited the web site.
First-year students were asked a series of questions about their use of the
web site prior to beginning school at UMass. Most of the first-year students
(90.6%, n=193) said that they had access to the worldwide web at the time
that they were trying to figure out which college to attend. Of 214 first-year
students in the sample, (11.2%, n=24) said that they had visited the web site,
and (9.3%, n=20) said that their parents had visited the web site, while they
were trying to decide which college to attend. In comparison, 35.0% (n=75)
of first-year students said that they had used the telephone and 84.6% (n=181)
that they had used written materials such as manuals and brochures, to find
information about Housing Services or residence halls prior to arriving as
students at UMass. First-year students also were asked “Now that you’re
living on campus, is there something you wished you had known about living
in the residence halls that you found out afterwards or too late?” About
one-third of respondents (31.9%, n=68) said “yes.”
All respondents were asked if they had used various information sources to find information about Housing Services or the residence halls since they became students at UMass. Written materials were the sources consulted by the largest proportion of students, followed by telephone, cable TV, and the web site (See Figure 1).
Figure 1. Information sources used by students for Housing Services information
Housing Services is currently redesigning its web site. Students were asked
how important they think it is for the site to include various types of information.
Information on computer data communications, what to do about roommate conflicts,
the room selection process, options for choosing roommates, and safety and
security issues topped the list. Figure 2 details students’ ratings.
- Meg Kluge
