Review of survey design and sampling processes with recommendations for the NETC course satisfaction surveys

Abstract

The schools under the Naval Education and Training Command’s (NETC) cognizance are committed to producing the best trained Sailors for the fleet. It is important for NETC to collect accurate information regarding how well the training and education Sailors received at various schools apply to their current job duties. The current method for collecting this information is through assessment surveys that are disseminated to all graduates of the many schools NETC oversees and their supervisors at their first duty station. This method potentially faces sampling challenges and measurement errors due in part to DoN policies and regulations. These sampling challenges and measurement errors can then lead to inaccurate results and low confidence in those results. In this report, we first examine the literature on survey design and management. To assist NETC in the goal of obtaining greater confidence in the assessment survey results, we then provide guidance regarding NETC’s sampling procedures, survey design and implementation, and data processing. Finally, we summarize best practices in web survey design.