Demonstrates how electronic mail and the World Wide Web are effective tools for focus group research and programmatic decision making by highlighting how an electronic needs assessment survey was conducted on participants' use of the Web. Lessons Learned from Surveying an Electronic Network of Learners. A 10-question survey was posted electronically, as were respondents' replies. Three reminders were posted over the 3-week reply period. The number of subscribers was estimated at 250 in the United States and 6 foreign countries.
Results suggest that the listserv is an active community of learners.
They also demonstrate that defining the real population becomes a technological problem. If one were to hypothesize that an active electronic community would respond better than other groups to a survey, these results would not support the hypothesis, although respondents to the initial effort provided very rapid responses. The survey text is attached. To Learn about Student Experiences. AIR 1997 Annual Forum Paper.