Purdue University College of Liberal Arts

Information for

Social Research Institute

The Social Research Institute (SRI), which is affiliated with the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, has the capability and resources to perform data management, analysis, collection as well as study design for prospective clients. SRI maintains a 10 station computer assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) lab, a 12 station data analysis lab, and web hosting and web survey facilities. SRI uses Sawtooth’s WinCati software for its automated calling operation. Questionnaires are authored with Ci3 or Sensus. SRI also does web-based surveys hosted on an SRI server. For web surveys, Sawtooth’s WebSensus is used in conjunction with Sensus or Ci3 to author questionnaires. The software is comparable to other CATI software and is probably the most widely used CATI software used in call centers housed in university settings. This

Spring SRI will begin using Mixed Mode survey software developed by Sawtooth Technologies. Mixed mode systems enable the researcher to combine automated calling technology with web survey capability. SRI also has computer assisted self interviewing (CASI) capability.

Interviewers used in the calling operation are predominately graduate students in the College of Liberal Arts at Purdue. 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. Spanish speaking interviewers are available for surveys that require them. SRI currently has 45 trained interviewers that are available for calling.

The process that is followed for a large scale client survey (more than 1000 surveys) includes multiple steps. Since proposed survey questionnaires usually require revision before use in a telephone study, a written version of the questionnaire is first pre-tested with a local sample. The questionnaire is corrected for any obvious problems before it is programmed in Ci3 or Sensus. Once the questionnaire is constructed and programmed, it is checked for internal consistency. Then, a pilot telephone study of local respondents is conducted to make sure the questionnaire is working properly. The questionnaire is again altered to reflect any necessary changes. Before the questionnaire is put into production, client approval of the final version of the questionnaire is obtained. The sample is obtained the day the data collection starts to minimize disconnects and other phone problems. SRI uses commercial vendors to generate the needed telephone number data sets. Survey Sampling, Inc. will be contracted to construct the telephone number sample that meets this study’s requirements. Samples obtained are pre-screened for disconnects and business numbers to maximize calling productivity. Once interviewing begins, a project manager is assigned to control quality of the data and to monitor productivity. Project managers do random callbacks to check on interviewer quality. Data is downloaded daily and backed up to locations on two different servers. Interim reports (Frequency counts, etc.) can be generated at regular intervals during data collection as per client requests. Once data collection is complete, a data file is created in the client’s requested format. Formats commonly requested are ASCII-single record, ASCII-delimited single, ASCII-80 column, SPSS for DOS, SPSS for windows, WinCross, Survey System, Survey Tabs, and Ci2 compatible. Other formats such as SAS or STATA are available through the use of Statransfer. The variable names and response codes are added before any analysis is done.

Data analysis is also conducted through SRI. The SRI staff has experience with handling data sets of all types and sizes. Most common statistical packages (SPSS, STATA, SAS) are available for use in SRI as well as specific task packages like LISREL, LIMDEP, SHAZAM, etc. Text analysis software (NUD_ist 6 and others) is also available to analyze text data.

Contact and Cost Estimates

SRI does work for clients inside and outside Purdue. SRI operates on a cost recovery basis. Since SRI began last year to provide research services to clients, a number of studies have been completed through SRI including local, state, and national telephone surveys as well as national and international web surveys. SRI has also provided data management and analysis services to other clients. For information about services and cost estimates contact John Stahura at 765-494-4694, stahuraj@purdue.edu.

SRI Staff

DIRECTOR

John Stahura, Ph.D.
Professor of Sociology and Anthropology
Stone Hall 339, Purdue University
700 West State Street
West Lafayette, In 47907-2059
765-494-4694
stahuraj@purdue.edu

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR

Michael Copeland
Stone Hall 345A, Purdue University
700 West State Street
West Lafayette, In 47907-2059
765-494-3130
copelandm@purdue.edu

PROJECT MANAGER

Gregory C. Gibson, Ph.D.
Stone Hall 339, Purdue University
700 West State Street
West Lafayette, In 47907-2059
765-494-4694
765-496-1476 (fax)
gcgibson@purdue.edu


WWW TECHNICIAN

Elizabeth Hayes
Stone Hall 345, Purdue University
700 West State Street
West Lafayette, In 47907-2059
765-494-4711
ehayes@purdue.edu