José-Marie Griffiths, Ph.D.

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Surveys

Data About Technology Usage Among Entering Students at the University of Michigan, 1994-1999

(1999 percentages reflect responses from 3461 students unless otherwise indicated.)

Q1: When you were deciding which college to attend, how important was the amount of the information technology resources provided by the schools you were considering?

	Crucial	One of several equal factors	Minor	No Role
1999	15.1%	57.4%	20.5%	7.0%
1998	23.9%	54.6%	16.2%	5.3%
1997	11.7%	48.5%	31.0%	8.8%

Q2: When you were deciding which college to attend, how important was the amount of library research tools provided by the schools you were considering?

	Crucial	One of several equal factors	Minor	No Role
1999	16.5%	60.2%	17.7%	5.5%
1998	22.9%	52.2%	19.1%	5.8%

Q3: Based on your current knowledge, how extensive are the information technology resources available to you at U-M?

	Abundant	Adequate	Not enough
1999	84.3%	14.6%	1.2%
1998	83.2%	15.7%	1.1%
1997	88.9%	10.6%	0.5%

Q4: Do you have Internet access from your home (via America Online, CompuServe, or some other Internet service)?

	Yes	No
1999	91.6%	8.4%
1998	84.5%	15.5%
1997	75.5%	24.5%
1996	53.9%	46.1%

How often have you used a computer to:

Q5A: write a paper?

	Daily	Weekly	Monthly	Once	Never
1999	12.5%	63.9%	22.8%	0.6%	0.2%
1998	11.9%	63.1%	24.0%	0.6%	0.4%
1997	11.4%	63.2%	23.9%	0.9%	0.6%
1996	7.5%	57.2%	32.7%	1.8%	0.9%
1995	9.6%	48.7%	36.7%	2.7%	2.4%
1994	97.1% = Yes, 2.7% = No, 0.2% = No response

Q5B: read email?

	Daily	Weekly	Monthly	Once	Never
1999	59.9%	24.4%	7.7%	2.9%	5.4%
1998	49.8%	23.4%	11.8%	4.7%	10.3%
1997	41.3%	21.6%	10.0%	9.1%	18.0%
1996	18.6%	17.1%	12.7%	9.5%	42.1%
1995	16.6%	10.3%	7.2%	7.2%	58.7%
1994	29.6% = Yes, 70.1% = No, 0.3% = No response

Q5C: look at web pages?

	Daily	Weekly	Monthly	Once	Never
1999	34.7%	39.1%	21.5%	3.0%	1.7%
1998	26.2%	37.3%	25.5%	5.8%	5.3%
1997	19.7%	36.3%	25.3%	10.4%	8.3%

Q5D: use the internet to do research?

	Daily	Weekly	Monthly	Once	Never
1999	9.0%	43.3%	41.7%	4.4%	1.5%
1998	7.6%	36.6%	43.9%	6.9%	4.9%

Q5E: search an online library catalog?

	Daily	Weekly	Monthly	Once	Never
1999	2.1%	9.6%	36.5%	26.9%	25.0%
1998	2.3%	11.0%	35.1%	24.8%	26.8%

Q5F: participate in news groups or chat rooms?

	Daily	Weekly	Monthly	Once	Never
1999	6.5%	10.8%	22.9%	24.0%	35.9%
1998	7.4%	12.5%	25.0%	22.2%	33.0%
1997	6.5%	15.6%	23.8%	22.1%	32.1%

Q5G: create web pages?

	Daily	Weekly	Monthly	Once	Never
1999	2.2%	3.5%	6.5%	16.9%	70.9%
1998	3.7%	3.3%	5.0%	13.9%	74.2%
1997	2.7%	2.9%	2.8%	13.1%	78.5%

Q5H: create multimedia graphics, sounds, and so on?

	Daily	Weekly	Monthly	Once	Never
1999	3.8%	5.5%	12.2%	14.8%	63.6%
1998	4.6%	5.6%	11.1%	12.7%	66.0%
1997	3.6%	6.1%	9.9%	13.6%	66.9%

Q5I: manage data(use spreadsheet or database)?

	Daily	Weekly	Monthly	Once	Never
1999	6.4%	12.4%	29.7%	21.6%	30.0%
1998	5.5%	14.1%	27.3%	20.3%	32.9%
1997	5.6%	12.2%	24.5%	24.7%	33.0%
1996	7.9%	12.0%	17.2%	15.8%	47.1%
1995	12.2%	11.8%	19.1%	15.0%	41.9%
1994	50.3% = Yes, 49.4% = No, 0.2% = No response

Q5J: do other things?

	Daily	Weekly	Monthly	Once	Never
1999	36.5%	27.1%	20.0%	3.7%	11.8%
1998	35.7%	28.0%	22.3%	4.3%	9.7%
1997	34.2%	29.1%	21.3%	5.0%	10.4%
1996	31.0%	31.6%	19.1%	2.8%	15.4%
1995	33.6%	25.9%	19.8%	3.6%	17.0%
1994	67.6% = Yes, 31.9% = No, 0.5% = No response

Q6A: I have very strong computer skills.

	Strongly Disagree	Somewhat Disagree	Neither agree nor disagree	Somewhat Agree	Strongly Agree
1999	5.6%	17.5%	22.6%	40.7%	13.7%
1998	9.6%	20.4%	17.2%	38.6%	14.2%
1997	12.0%	33.4%	23.7%	18.3%	12.7%

Q6B: I have very strong skills using a computer to obtain information needed for academic research and class assignments.

	Strongly Disagree	Somewhat Disagree	Neither agree nor disagree	Somewhat Agree	Strongly Agree
1999	3.0%	10.5%	16.2%	50.8%	19.5%
1998	7.2%	18.4%	21.6%	39.2%	13.6%

Q7A-Q7G: Indicate your preferences for the following methods of learning about computers. (Students could make as many selections as they wished.)

		1999	1998	1997
Q7A	Instructor-led workshop	42.7%	35.1%	39.7%
Q7B	Do tutorials on my own	25.9%
Q7C	Read guides on my own	31.4%	25.5%	20.2%
Q7D	Explore on my own	71.3%	72.7%	76.0%
Q7E	In class/at work	54.7%	47.8%	47.6%
Q7F	From friends and family	46.7%	52.8%	51.8%
Q7G	Dislike learning about computers	5.5%	5.5%	4.2%
1997-1998: Question 7B and 7C were combined. See 7C for data about preference for both tutorials and guides. 1994-96: Questions not asked.

Q8: Will you use your own computer at U-M?

	Yes--one I now own	Yes--one I'll buy	No	Don't Know
1999	39.3%	44.7%	6.1%	9.9%
1998	35.2%	40.0%	9.6%	15.2%
1997	37.5%	33.2%	12.7%	16.6%

Note: Percentages for questions 9A-11 were calculated using number of students responding affirmatively to question 8 as 100%. Those numbers were: 1999, 2886 students; 1998, 904 students; 1997, 1588 students.

If you plan to use your own computer at U-M, make selections to describe your computer system. (If you have more than one computer, describe only your primary system.)
Q9A: Computer System

	Windows	Macintosh	Unix	Other	Don't know
1999	81.4%	8.6%	0.6%	0.9%	8.6%
1998	71.8%	11.0%	0.5%	6.4%	10.3%
1997	70.5%	15.0%	0.7%	2.5%	11.3%

Q9B: Model

	Desktop	Laptop	Don't know
1999	61.7%	27.4%	10.9%
1998	69.9%	20.2%	9.9%
1997	69.2%	20.0%	10.8%

Q9C: Printer

	Inkjet	Laser	Dot matrix	Other	Don't know
1999	46.0%	23.2%	0.7%	1.0%	29.1%
1998	49.0%	23.0%	1.5%	1.6%	24.8%
1997	49.3%	24.7%	4.2%	1.8%	20.7%

Q10: Do you plan to connect a computer to the Internet from your Residence Hall room?

	Yes	No	Unsure	Not Applicable
1999	91.0%	1.2%	5.9%	1.8%
1998	73.9%	5.0%	16.1%	5.0%
1997	73.4%	8.0%	15.2%	3.4%

Q11: How will you connect?

	Ethernet	Modem
1999	87.7%	12.3%
1998	93.3%	6.7%
1997	80.0%	20.0%

Q12: If you don't plan to have your computer at U-M, what are the major reasons? (Student could make as many selections as they wished.)

		1999	1998	1997
Q12A	Can't afford	5.7%	10.1%	14.3%
Q12B	Don't know enough to choose	1.3%	3.0%	3.8%
Q12C	Using U-M computer labs	9.3%	16.3%	21.3%
Q12D	Using a friend's or work computer	7.0%	5.2%	5.6%
Q12E	Don't need one	2.0%	3.1%	3.1%
Q12F	It will become obsolete too fast	1.2%	1.6%	3.9%
Q12G	Other	2.8%	2.2%	2.2%

Q13: If you have or plan to buy a cellular telephone and use it at U-M, what type is it?

	Digital	Analog	Both	No response
1999	13.1%	2.5%	11.8%	70.3%

Note: Percentages for question 14-16 were calculated using 1035 (number of students indicating in their response to question 13 that they would have a cell phone at U-M) as 100%

Q14: How often do you use your cell phone during an average month?

	0-10 min	11-50 min	51-100 min	100+ min	Don't have cell phone yet
1999	10.1%	34.5%	18.6%	16.9%	19.9%

Q15: Why do you use a cell telephone? (Choose all that apply.)

		1999
Q15A:	Convenience	83.1%
Q15B:	It's cool	22.0%
Q15C:	Low toll rates	15.0%
Q15D:	Business	8.6%
Q15E:	Personal use	65.6%
Q15F:	Safety	56.8%

Q16: What features do you use on your cell phone? (Choose all that apply.)

		1999
Q16A:	Voice mail	53.1%
Q16B:	Call waiting	39.0%
Q16C:	Three-way calling	16.4%
Q16D:	Numeric paging	27.0%
Q16E:	Text paging	17.4%

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University of Pittsburgh
School of Information Sciences
I35 North Bellefield Avenue, 601
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
(412) 624-9370
jmgriff@pitt.edu