Methodology

The survey was distributed to a random sample of UNC-Chapel Hill faculty, staff, and students, as well as UNC Hospitals employees.  Development of the questionnaire, the sampling techniques used, response rates obtained, and analyses conducted are described below.

The Survey Questionnaire

The questionnaire used in the current study was originally developed for the 1997 survey, and has undergone only slight modifications for the 2001, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2011, and 2013 administrations.   The 2019 survey was re-designed and pre-tested by Transportation and Parking with the intent to be direct, brief, and solicit more responses. Most ques­tions were close-ended and check boxes were used to make answering these questions simple and efficient. Open-ended questions were used for numerical re­sponses and a few qualitative free responses where respondents list reasons they do or do not use certain modes to travel to campus.  The 2019 survey was conducted in the same manner as the 2017 survey.

Separate sections were developed to elicit more detailed information from those who drive and those who take the bus to campus, and the survey directed individuals to appropriate sections of the survey based on their travel behavior.

Copies of the full web-based questionnaires for employees and students are provided in Appendices 2 and 3.

Population and Sample

The 2019 study utilized the same methodology for determining sample size as the 1997, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017 studies (see previous reports for details).  Of the combined population of faculty and staff at the University and UNC Hospitals, a random sample was drawn using employee records obtained from the personnel databases of those organizations. Completed responses totaling 1,329 of 4,110 were received for a response rate of 32%.  The student population consisted of all undergraduate, graduate, and professional students who lived off-campus during fall 2019. From this population, a random sample of 2,472 was drawn.  A total of 341 completed responses were received for a response rate of 13%. The analysis in this report for employees and students considers all respondents who partially or completely filled out the survey. A total of 1296 employee respondents and 328 student respondents completed the survey in its entirety.

Administration of the Survey

All students and employees in the target sample received an email announcement directing them to the website containing the on-line survey, and one email reminder sent approximately seven days after the first announcement.  The responses went directly to a secured server in the Transportation and Parking department.

The results were analyzed using Qualtrics and Microsoft Excel was used to create the tables and cross-tabulations in this report.