Sociology 3155: Cumulative Assignment 1 (15 points possible) Due Monday, April 31.

Among the data sets that were emailed to you at the beginning of the course was one that included the results of a 2007 survey of alumni (N=106). The response rate was 22%. What I am asking you to do in this first wrap-up assignment is to put together a report on the results of this survey, supporting it with SPSS output.

Cover at least the following areas:

1. Breakdown of majors by numbers.
2. Mean rating on a number of measures, including teaching quality, internship, quality of advisement, course access, class size, concern for you as an individual, career information, and graduate school information. Which of these areas woudl you identify as strengths and weaknesses?
3. There was also a question about rating their overall experience with the department on a 1-10 scale. What was the average overall rating for all majors, and what was the rating in each major? Does it seem that people in any particular major are more dissatisfied?
4. Another way to measure satisfaction was a question that asked whether, if they had it to do all over again, they'd have chosen the same major. Were there differences by major in the response to that question?
5. We also wondered whether there was much connection between their majors and their current job. Create a table that shows whether theri undergraduate degree helped them get their current jobs, by major, and then do the same thing for whether they use their undergraduate education in their current jobs.
6. We asked whether there were particular courses that had helped them get their current jobs and also whether undergraduate activities or volunteer commitments had helped them choose a career direction or get a job. Report on that information.
7. We wondered which skill or knowledge areas were most important in one or more of the jobs they have held--these were all the variables starting with "imp"(for importance), and then we asked how they would rate their preparation in those areas--(the variable starting with "prep" (for preparation). Which skill areas had proved most and least important, and how well did these alumni feel prepared in the skills/knowledge that had proved important? Does it look like there are areas where we really need to improve our training?
8. We wondered about graduate school--how many had already attended, in what areas, how many are attending now, and how many plan to attend in the future. What did these data show?
9. We also asked about current income and I'd like to see an overall frequency distribution, as well as a breakdown of average income by major.
10. Finally we wondered about the breakdown of males and females in our sample and about differences by sex in their rating of their overall experience in the department, their current income, and their undergraduate GPA and GPA in the major. Produce a breakdown that shows those data. How did their experiences vary, both at UMD and in their income since leaving UMD? Is there anything puzzling in these data, and if so, what additional questions might we have asked that would help clear up those puzzles?

How is the department doing overall, and based on these data, what should be our top priorities for improvement?