My research and analysis for Pack Poll:
“Major” Differences in Pride Exist
Fully 90% of N.C. State students agreed when asked, do you feel “proud to be a student at N.C. State,” and approximately two-thirds of those students (65%) said they “strongly” agreed. Furthermore, about nine-in-ten students also reported feeling “proud to be a part of my college at N.C. State,” (88%) and “proud to be a student in my major or degree program,” (87%). While few students (3%) did not agree, it is possible that expressing pride in being a student at N.C. State might be overstated due to social desirability effects.
The amount of pride students had varied a little bit according to their home college. Almost everyone studying in textiles, for example, agreed they felt proud about State, their college, and their major. By way of contrast, 12% of students in CHASS/Design did not agree they felt proud of being a student at State, and almost 20% did not feel proud of being in their major.
% who feel“proud to be a student in…” N.C. State My College My Major CALS/CNR 89%
89%
89% CHASS/Design 88%
82%
83% PAMS/Engineering 89%
91%
92% COM 89%
84%
89% Textiles 100%
97%
95% Education 100%
97%
91% First Year College 100%
64%
41% The “Right Direction” at State
Roughly six-in-ten students consider things at N.C. State to be “headed in the right direction”, while only 14% of students thought N.C. State was “headed in the wrong direction”. The belief that things at N.C. State are generally in the right direction was significantly related feeling pride in being a student at N.C. State. Approximately two-thirds of students who see N.C. State as on the right track also reported feeling pride in being a student at N.C. State, a student in their respective college, and a student in their major or degree program.
In a comparison of all colleges at N.C. State, First Year College students were the most likely to consider N.C. State to be on the right track, but their numbers were the fewest (n= 16). Similar to the pride question, the highest percentage of students believing NCSU is on the right track come from textiles (72%), while the largest percentage of students saying things are n the wrong track come from CHASS/Design.Fresh Most Likely to Say, “Right Direction”
A significantly higher proportion of “frosh” or freshmen at N.C. State say that N.C. State University is generally headed in the right direction. Of the incoming freshman, 44% agreed that N.C. State was on the right track. Freshmen are much more optimistic about the direction of N.C. State than students in any other class. Overall, there are more modest differences in views of sophomores and upperclassmen: 56% of sophomores consider N.C. State to be on the right track, 55% of juniors express this view, as do 57% of seniors.
Frosh are also shown to be less likely to see N.C. State to be heading in the wrong direction (6%). More than twice as many sophomores and juniors (14%) see N.C. State heading in the wrong direction than their freshman counterparts while nearly one-in-five seniors (19%) say that N.C. State is on the wrong track, representing a 13-point difference from the 6% of freshman who consider N.C. State to be on the wrong track.
Students demonstrate moderately less substantial differences in expression of N.C. State pride than in views on the direction of the university. Overall, the senior class is the least expressive of pride in being an N.C. State student, with just under 89% expressing pride in being a student at N.C. State. Juniors express similar views with 89% agreeing with the statement “I am proud to be a student at N.C. State.” Just over nine-in-ten sophomores (91%) agreed with the same statement, while Frosh were most likely to express pride in being a student at N.C. State University (92%).
Wrong Direction for the Country
Six-in-ten students at N.C. State (60%) say that the university is heading in the right direction. However, just 17% of students feel that the country is on the right track. Compared to the 13% of students who say N.C. State University is heading in the wrong direction, significantly more students (48%) say that the country is headed in the wrong direction. 7-in-ten N.C. While students report substantially more favorable views on the direction of N.C. State than on direction of the county, students who say that the university is heading in the wrong direction also feel that the county is heading in the wrong direction.
Direction of N.C. State Direction of the Nation Right Track
60%
17% Wrong Track
13%
48% Note on Methodology: The Pack Poll at NC State University was fielded between Nov. 1 – Nov. 8, 2011. Responses came from 1108 partial and 970 completed interviews with NCSU undergraduates. A random sample of 5,000 students’ email was used to contact potential respondents, who were invited to take the on-line survey using a software program called Qualtrics. The survey has a margin of sampling error of approximately plus or minus 3 percentage points. For smaller subsamples within the survey, the margin of sampling error is larger. In addition to sampling error, factors such as question wording and other methodological choices in conducting survey research can introduce additional error into the findings of opinion polls.
Source: http://packpoll.com/138/
Anna Massoglia 