What sets MISO Apart

The MISO Survey sets itself apart from other IT and library surveys in three important ways.

1. A high-quality survey instrument

The MISO Survey instrument is carefully constructed, rigorously tested, and regularly evolving to meet the changing needs of IT and library organizations. The instrument now contains several items that measure areas including support services for faculty and undergraduate research, makerspaces, the attractiveness of the library, and questions designed to measure the academic impact of library and IT services as reported by students and faculty.

The MISO Survey is a fully customizable survey instrument. Each participating institution gets to choose which items to include or exclude from its version of the survey. Previously, the survey contained a set of items that all participating institutions were required to include. MISO eliminated this requirement allowing institutions to select only the items they wish to measure (the demographic questions remain a required aspect of the survey). The MISO Survey also offers a split sample option to participating institutions. This provides a means for institutions to ask a broader array of questions without increasing the time required by individual respondents to take the survey.

2. Exceptionally strong response rates

The MISO Survey’s unique methodology delivers response rates that set the standard for IT and library surveys. Such strong response ensures that participating institutions receive solid data to inform decision-making. Most MISO Survey schools obtain response rates near 50% for faculty, undergraduates, and staff. No other comparable survey delivers such strong response rates for all three populations, and MISO’s student response rates are exceptional.

Since the MISO Survey’s inception more than a quarter million faculty, students, and staff have participated. The MISO Survey consistently delivers exceptional response rates that are much stronger than those of similar surveys in higher education. Each year, the median national MISO Survey response rates typically are as follows:

• Faculty: ~60.0%

• Undergraduates: ~50.0%

• Staff: ~55%

3. Highly comparable results that permit real analysis

MISO Survey results are distributed in a format that permits IT and library staff to quickly drill into a subset of the results, compare data between multiple peer institutions, create custom cohorts for deeper analysis, test for statistically significant differences between results, and conduct longitudinal analysis if a school has participated in the Survey more than once. This means that IT and library staff can assess service effectiveness without needing to rely on institutional researchers or others with advanced statistical skills.

Since 2005, the MISO Survey has been administered at 170 institutions. Most of these institutions have administered the Survey multiple times, choosing to repeat the survey every two or three years.