Linda G. Shook and Virginia E. O’Leary
Big Data
Little Data
 In a member led, member driven organization like
OLLI, how do you know what your membership
wants?
 Many of us in leadership positions think we know
because we have strong opinions and they often
coincide with those of the others we know best.
 BUT….
 An N of 2 won’t do!
 Surveying the membership is the only way to really
know for sure.
The OLLI at Auburn Story
 In the beginning there were the opinions of the
members of the OLLI Board.
 Then, at a Board meeting in October during an intense
discussion of ways to raise funds..
OLLI’s Partner
 Dr. Malissa Clark and her class of 7 doctoral students
enrolled in a course entitled Research Methods for
Industrial/Organizational Psychology.
OLLI at Auburn as Client
 Brief history
 Purpose of the survey
 Question domains
Content Categories
 Demographics
 Gender
 Age
 Education
 Comfort with technology
 Years living in the Auburn area
 Experiences with OLLI
 Attitudes toward OLLI Fundraising
 Ways members learned about OLLI
 Attendance at OLLI functions by type, academic or
social
 Reasons for considering withdrawing from
membership
 Curriculum and Services
 Satisfaction
 Use of OLLI benefits
Qualtrics
Drafts
 Original 105 questions
 Pared to 45 questions
 Reviewed by the OLLI Director, Linda Shook, and me
 Final review for content by the Board
Pretests
 Pretest of the internet version for time and wording
 20 OLLI members randomly selected
 Pretest of the hard copy version for time and wording
 5 convenience sample of OLLI members
Survey Administration
 Across 2 weeks with a reminder at day 10
 Paper surveys available at the OLLI desk during classes
OLLI at Auburn Membership Survey
 www.olliatauburn.org
Response Rate
 43% (N=267 of the 615 members who were sent the
survey.
Crosstabs
 Gender
 Member status (academic or general)
 Length of OLLI affiliation
 Previous career history
 Previous career
 Educational background
 Marital status
Content Analyses
 The ended questions included in the survey were
content analyzed.
Analyses
 The students analyzed the survey with input from me
regarding crosstabs of interest.
Results
 The students presented the results to the Board at a
meeting called for that purpose.
Linda Shook, Director
OLLI at Auburn
 Worked with non profit groups.
 B. A., Public Relations, University of Alabama.
 M.Ed., Adult Education, Auburn University.
The Survey is Available at:
 http://www.olliatauburn.org/documents/OLLI%20Ex
ec%20Membership%20Survey%20Report_FINAL%20J
une%202013.pdf
Win-Win
 OLLI at Auburn has data on which to base decisions
for the next couple of years.
 Dr. Clark was able to teach survey research methods in
real time.
 The students were able to work with an actual client
and can now claim to have done survey work on their
resumes when they go to look for jobs.
 The university has an illustration of the contribution
of OLLI at Auburn to its academic mission.
Partnering with Academic Units
 Enhances OLLI’s relevance to the broader campus
community.
 Provides a platform of inter generational collaboration
that benefits both.
As Director of OLLI at Auburn
 The value of surveys for data to enhance our
programs.
 The importance of using empirical data to make
decisions.
 The utility of forging partnerships with the academic
side of the University which deepens our roots within
our host institution.
New Data Collection Efforts
 Survey of OLLI faculty.
 Attrition Survey.
 Preferences for social events.
 There are many ways to skin a cat using survey
methodology.
 Michael Cheang a faculty member in the Family and
Consumer Sciences Department at the University of
Hawaii at Manoa will now tell us about their OLLI
curricular content analysis.
Thank You