How The Survey Was Conducted

 

Early this year, we set out to survey members of the M.B.A. class of '87 with the goal of gaining some insight into who they are, what they believe, and where they are going. Toward that end, we compiled a five-page questionnaire, which we delivered in late February to 1,500 second-year M.B.A. students at 10 business schools around the country. The schools were: Carnegie Mellon University's Graduate School of Industrial Administration; Duke University's Fuqua School of Business; Indiana University's Graduate School of Business; Northwestern University's J. L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management; Stanford University's Graduate School of Business; the University of Miami's School of Business Administration; the University of Minnesota's Curtis L. Carlson School of Management; the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business; the University of Sourthern California's Graduate School of Business Administration; and the University of Texas at Austin's Graduate School of Business.

The schools were chosen with an eye toward obtaining as broad a cross section of the class as possible in terms of geography, type of program, and student background. At each school, we provided questionnaires to 150 randomly selected students. Of the 1,500 questionnaires distributed, 907 were completed and returned, for a response rate of 60%. Survey results were compiled by Data Tabulation Services Inc., in Stoneham, Mass. INC. special projects editor Sara Baer-Sinnott coordinated the entire process. Research assistance was provided by Teri Lammers.

A complete report of the survey results, covering all subjects included in the questionnaire, is available for $65. To obtain a copy, please contact special reports manager John Titus at (800) 372-0018.