Tips to Handle a Complex Data Tips to Handle a Complex Data Request/Report with Less AnxietyRequest/Report with Less Anxiety

TAIR Conference

February 2008

Presenter: Salma Ferdous

Office of Institutional Research

The University of Texas at San Antonio

OverviewOverview

Data Processing in Absence of Data Warehouse IR Responsibilities Steps of Data Analysis Don’t be Stressed out Data Request Example Data Processing Methods Questions/Answers

What to Expect as an Institutional Researcher?What to Expect as an Institutional Researcher?

Institutional Researchers Often Get Complex Requests From Different Sources.

Institutional Researchers Often Face Multiple Demands With Tight Deadlines.

Institutional Researchers Obligated to Provide Quality Information, Research, and Analysis.

Potential IR ResponsibilitiesPotential IR Responsibilities

Student Enrollments Credit Hours Generated Degrees Awarded Retention and Graduation Analyses Admission-related Analyses Analyses of Teaching Loads and Class Size Analyses of Grades Analyses of Faculty Analyses of Staff Analyses of Levels of Research Support Administration and Analysis of Surveys Administration of Focus Groups of Students, Faculty, and/or Staff Reports Summarizing Comparative Data of Peer Institutions Requests for Ad Hoc Reports from Outside Agencies

Good IR Professional Requires:Good IR Professional Requires:

Familiarity with Fundamentals of IR (Students, Faculty, Finance, Facilities)

Technological And Analytical Skills (Research Design, Sampling Procedures, Statistics, Use of Excel, Word, Statistical Software)

Issues Intelligence (Knowledge of Major Issues or Decisions That Face Your Institution)

Contextual Intelligence (Understanding The Culture of Higher Ed and Your Particular Campus)

Communication Skill (Establish Friendly, Professional Relationship with Coworkers and with Important Campus Persons)

(Dizinno and Gardner: 2007)

Stages of Data AnalysisStages of Data Analysis

Identification - of Data And Data Sources Acquisition - of The Needed Data Conversion - to Readable, Usable Format Auditing - Determining Data Accuracy & Validity Preliminary Analysis Full Analysis Summary - Summarizing The Results Presentation – Presenting The Results

(Dizinno and Gardner: 2007)

You should not be Stressed OutYou should not be Stressed Out

There is Good stress and Bad stress. Good stress helps keep us alert, motivates us to face challenges, and drives us to solve problems. Good stress increases our strength, speed and reaction time. Bad stress or distress occurs when our bodies overreact to events. We react to many daily situations as if they were life or death issues. As survivors in the field of Institutional Research, we would like to provide some of the insights and coping methods we have developed to manage the stress related to this line of work.

(Chrestman, James and Swink: 2003)

UTSA IR Data SourcesUTSA IR Data Sources

Raw Data

CB Reports Banner DataMart Define HR System Various UTSA Servers

Published Data

UTSA Fact book THECB Accountability Website UT System Accountability Website THECB PREP Query Tool IPEDS Peer Analysis System Census Data Texas State Data Center and Office

of the State Demographer

UTSA Data Manipulation MethodsUTSA Data Manipulation Methods

MS Access To pull the data from different Databases To link different tables to get desired data To use different criteria in the queries To get Pivot Table View of the required data

MS Excel To generate statistical data using formulas To get Pivot Table View of the required data To deliver final results

SPSS To generate statistical data specially for huge datasets To get custom outputs of the required data To handle data programmatically

Let’s Work on a Data RequestLet’s Work on a Data Request

These are the Portions of a Data Request:

Ph.D. student enrollment for each of the 20 doctoral degree programs offered at UTSA for the last 5 years and then the breakdown of that total number by Gender, Ethnicity, Department and College.

Total number of Ph.D. students Applied and Accepted for the past 5 years and then the breakdown of that total numbers by Gender and Ethnicity.

Graduation Rate of Ph.D. students in each department for the past 5 years and then the breakdown of that total number by Gender and Ethnicity.

Form Before

Data Request Form

Form After

Questions to Ask YourselfQuestions to Ask Yourself

What are the items being requested? What sources of data can you use to get the

information you need? Do you have all the tables updated to be used

for the request? Are you familiar with all the data requested?

What are the Items this Request Asking for?What are the Items this Request Asking for?

Student Enrollment in Doctoral Level for 5 Years Doctoral Degree Programs Offered at UTSA Total Numbers by Departments and Colleges Total Numbers by Gender and Ethnicity Number of Ph.D. Students Applied, Accepted Graduation Rates of Ph.D. Students

What Sources of Data can You Use?What Sources of Data can You Use?

Need to have a Cumulative CBM001 table Need to have a Validation/Crosswalk table of

the Programs, Departments and Colleges Need to have Cumulative Admission table Need to have Cumulative Graduation table

Are You Familiar with Rules of the Data Are You Familiar with Rules of the Data Requested?Requested?

Enrollment Correct Level of Students Correct Term Codes Exclude Flex (Katrina) Students

Programs Correct College Structures

Admission Correct Level of Students Select students with Decision Made Exclude “Denied” Students

Graduation Correct Level of Students First-Time Full-Time Students (for Undergraduate) 4, 5, 6 yrs graduation rates Exclude Deceased Students

Procedures to Compile DataProcedures to Compile Data

Start with CBM001 for 5 Academic Years Enrollment in Ph.D. Level

Gender and Ethnicity data should come from CBM001 Link CBM001 with Program/Department/College table

for Program Codes, Names, Department and College Use CBM00B or Admission Data Table to get number of

students Applied and Accepted. Use CBM009 or Graduation Data Table to obtain

number of students graduated within last 5 Academic Years

Write a MemoWrite a Memo

Write the data sources used for the request

Write major steps needed for the request

Write reports that are easy to understand

Keep reports brief and concise

Save all Memos for future references.

Tips To Handle Complex RequestsTips To Handle Complex Requests

Learn Basic Higher Education Rules Learn Your Institution’s Decisions Keep Your Primary Data Sources Updated Make Cumulative Data Tables Keep Historical Data Saved Maintain Data Request Database with Job Numbers Write the Procedures for Future Reference Try to Use Statistical Software If you have Data Warehouse, you know how the data

is being executed

ReferencesReferences

Strategies for the Practice of Institutional Research by Gerry Dizinno and Denise Gardner: 2007 http://www.utsa.edu/ir/ofc/SAIR2007newcomersworkshopfinal.ppt

Survival Skills for Institutional Research by Ronnie Chrestman, Nancy James and Jessica Swink: 2003 http://www.clemson.edu/oir/Presentations/AIR2003SurvivalSkillsPaper.doc

Questions?Questions?