40 Years of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education Survey of Educational Issues: Policy Engagement and Survey Evolution Over Time

• In Event: Methodological Advances to Improve Survey Data Collection and Analysis

Abstract

This paper reviews 40 years of the biannual OISE Survey of Educational Issues (Canada’s longest running education survey), with an emphasis on major links to education policy, as well as on the evolution of both survey content and methodology over the past four decades. The authors discuss the development and maintenance of the survey, and highlight the role of the survey in public conversations regarding education in Ontario. This paper also traces the evolution of the survey methodology from RRD to an online panel model (in 2017) and the resulting implications for the questionnaire and data analysis. Finally, the authors raise questions about the potential for social media to support survey methodology going forward.

Authors

• Arlo Kempf, University of Toronto, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education

• Doug Hart, University of Toronto