For nearly 20 years the Survey Research Center has played a central role in data collection efforts with Penn State faculty, research scientists, and graduate students. The services we have provided range from designing and conducting scientific surveys of the general public, and of targeted populations such as high school students, business managers, cancer survivors, teachers, or individuals enrolled in specific interventions or clinical trials. The SRC utilizes five primary modes of data collection, providing faculty investigators the capability to recruit and enroll study participants in an effective and efficient manner. Many projects employ a multi-modal approach to reach the highest number of respondents:
The Field Division conducts face‐to‐face interviews in subject households, in classrooms, or in other institutional settings. This division also conducts focus groups and has the capability of conducting interviews and focus groups remotely using online platforms. We have recruited, hired, and trained people from across the nation to become competent interviewers.
The Phone Division’s state-of-the-art call center conducts telephone interviews in English and Spanish with individuals in all fifty states and the District of Columbia.
The Mail Division produces scannable questionnaires that can be mailed to respondents and administered in group settings (e.g. workplaces or schools).
The Web Division programs and hosts questionnaires and surveys that can be completed by respondents via the internet, using our secure servers.
TRACE advises researchers who are using mobile technologies (smartphones) and ambulatory data collection (through remote devices), and programs and manages those projects.
The following is a list of the colleges and units we have worked with in the past: Ag Sciences, College of Medicine (Hershey, Pa.), Earth and Mineral Science, Eberly College of Science, Education, Engineering, Health and Human Development, Liberal Arts, Nursing, OSVPR, Graduate School, PSU Greater Alleghany, PSU Abbington, Arts and Architecture, and other internal and external partners.