Survey Research

Hardwick-Day and Strategic Resource Partners conduct phone and online survey research with a variety of key stakeholders to identify the perceived opportunities and barriers associated with attending a particular college or university.

In order to secure unbiased perceptions of an institution, the firm does not identify the sponsor of the survey unless absolutely necessary to obtain participation (as may be the case with educators).

Hardwick-Day typically surveys 500 or more stakeholders, broken down into the following groups:

• presidents and provosts of peer institutions;
• high school guidance counselors in the client's primary and secondary markets;
• area business leaders who are potential employers;
• high school seniors who are prospective students from the client's primary, secondary and tertiary markets; and
• parents of prospective students, based on the criteria for students.

Hardwick-Day principals design the questionnaire for prospective students and parents of prospective students to follow up on topics identified in focus groups.

The questionnaire for the educators includes the following topics:

• awareness and perceptions of the client's peer institutions;
• specific awareness and perceptions of the client college or university;
• source of awareness;
• imagery, impressions, positioning and expectations;
• perceived benefits and barriers; and
• perceptions the client's graduates.

Hardwick-Day and Strategic Resource Partners do all the work. The firm:

• designs the questionnaires with client input and approval;
• coordinates and manages data collection;
• codes open-ended questions;
• distributes participant honorariums;
• manages data processing and analysis;
• generates image maps to visually depict audience positioning of the client institution; and
• presents the positioning implications and findings in a working session format on campus.