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This is really lowest common denominator reporting, on top of lowest common denominator sampling, and lowest common denominator question design. A far better a

This is really lowest common denominator reporting, on top of lowest common denominator sampling, and lowest common denominator question design. A far better approach would be in trying to test for a specific hypothesis, e.g. "I believe confidence in higher ed is falling due to XYZ" reasons. But, in the context of Gallup, I think this kind of research is really there not to answer questions, but to provide a sort of pre-signal to aide in hypothesis generation. Now that this result exists, large numbers of companies and organizations will do paid studies to figure out what this means in detail, who thinks it, and identify areas they can course correct in their strategy. Gallup does good work, but this kind of omnibus question is not really meant to answer any questions. Source: I work in B2B survey and interview research.

simpaticoder 2y ago
>Now that this result exists, large numbers of companies and organizations will do paid studies to figure out what this means in detail, who thinks it, and identify areas they can course correct in their strategy. I would particularly like to see questions about "higher education" binned by field. I hypothesize that sentiment will differ most strongly between STEM and "X studies" fields, with the classic liberal arts subjects (English, history, etc) somewhere in the middle. I'd also be curious to know what the public knows about "the reproducibility crisis" or administrative bloat, if anything. And it would be fascinating to ask those with and without degrees, across 2-3 generations.
- abakker 2y ago
  absolutely - binning and cohort analysis is critical here. There's also (at least in my mind) a very reasonable question about what "higher education" means. I think it would be extremely valuable to understand expectations for BA / BS undergrads, Technical colleges / associates degrees, Masters degrees in liberal arts vs social sciences vs STEM, and then Doctorates. I imagine people have not lost confidence in much of the apparatus of professions - e.g. engineering schools and law schools. It would also be very interesting to me to map this against what people's perceptions were for graduation rates, scholarship availability, average student debt, and even the perceived impact that a school's endowment had on education quality. There's a lot to know, but seeing the very basic trend exists means that there is something to look at.
inetknght 2y ago
> This is really lowest common denominator reporting, on top of lowest common denominator sampling, and lowest common denominator question design. ...so it sounds like it's a product of our current higher education then.
jahewson 2y ago
What do think about the number of interest being not the absolute values from the poll itself but the change over time?
- abakker 2y ago
  This is useful as long as the sampling strategy doesn't change over time. With omnibus questions it can be a bit variable if the studies have some other motivation and the demographics are not consistent over time. edit to add: if you looked at 40 years of this question, you would definitely want to control for the higher number of people with direct exposure to the higher ed system, since that base rate has been on a positive trend for a long time.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
zo1 2y ago
Specific questions make for chaotic and detailed answers that don't speak to the bigger issues, because it fragments the pool opinions and allows the question crafter to push a narrative. This is precisely the kind of "scientific" nonsense that people are starting to realize and push back against. People with marginalized opinions have since learned the game and are starting to fall for it less and less. Source: someone with a marginalized viewpoint and the target of "scientific" and institutionalized race-based discrimination.
Animats 2y ago
Right. > "Please tell me how much confidence you, yourself, have in higher education -- a great deal, quite a lot, some or very little?" Confidence in higher education doing what? Leading to a good job? Making people better? Having a positive ROI? Being fun? Gallup asks "how much confidence do you have in X", for business, government, courts, gods, etc. to measure sentiment. It's too generic to be meaningful. The trend, though, is interesting.
- bumby 2y ago
  >Confidence in higher education doing what? Related, but longitidunal studies have indicated that people's stated goal of college has changed quite a bit over time. 40 years ago it was much more common to see the answer of "to develop a philosophy of life" where now the more common answer is "to get a good job."

simpaticoder 2y ago

>Now that this result exists, large numbers of companies and organizations will do paid studies to figure out what this means in detail, who thinks it, and identify areas they can course correct in their strategy. I would particularly like to see questions about "higher education" binned by field. I hypothesize that sentiment will differ most strongly between STEM and "X studies" fields, with the classic liberal arts subjects (English, history, etc) somewhere in the middle. I'd also be curious to know what the public knows about "the reproducibility crisis" or administrative bloat, if anything. And it would be fascinating to ask those with and without degrees, across 2-3 generations.

abakker 2y ago
absolutely - binning and cohort analysis is critical here. There's also (at least in my mind) a very reasonable question about what "higher education" means. I think it would be extremely valuable to understand expectations for BA / BS undergrads, Technical colleges / associates degrees, Masters degrees in liberal arts vs social sciences vs STEM, and then Doctorates. I imagine people have not lost confidence in much of the apparatus of professions - e.g. engineering schools and law schools. It would also be very interesting to me to map this against what people's perceptions were for graduation rates, scholarship availability, average student debt, and even the perceived impact that a school's endowment had on education quality. There's a lot to know, but seeing the very basic trend exists means that there is something to look at.

inetknght 2y ago

> This is really lowest common denominator reporting, on top of lowest common denominator sampling, and lowest common denominator question design. ...so it sounds like it's a product of our current higher education then.

jahewson 2y ago

What do think about the number of interest being not the absolute values from the poll itself but the change over time?

abakker 2y ago
This is useful as long as the sampling strategy doesn't change over time. With omnibus questions it can be a bit variable if the studies have some other motivation and the demographics are not consistent over time. edit to add: if you looked at 40 years of this question, you would definitely want to control for the higher number of people with direct exposure to the higher ed system, since that base rate has been on a positive trend for a long time.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]

zo1 2y ago

Specific questions make for chaotic and detailed answers that don't speak to the bigger issues, because it fragments the pool opinions and allows the question crafter to push a narrative. This is precisely the kind of "scientific" nonsense that people are starting to realize and push back against. People with marginalized opinions have since learned the game and are starting to fall for it less and less. Source: someone with a marginalized viewpoint and the target of "scientific" and institutionalized race-based discrimination.

Animats 2y ago

Right. > "Please tell me how much confidence you, yourself, have in higher education -- a great deal, quite a lot, some or very little?" Confidence in higher education doing what? Leading to a good job? Making people better? Having a positive ROI? Being fun? Gallup asks "how much confidence do you have in X", for business, government, courts, gods, etc. to measure sentiment. It's too generic to be meaningful. The trend, though, is interesting.

bumby 2y ago
>Confidence in higher education doing what? Related, but longitidunal studies have indicated that people's stated goal of college has changed quite a bit over time. 40 years ago it was much more common to see the answer of "to develop a philosophy of life" where now the more common answer is "to get a good job."