From Friday, October 21 to Wednesday, October 26 The Cavalier Daily surveyed 1,412 U.Va. undergraduate students via an e-mail survey powered by Qualtrics. These respondents came from a pool of 6,000 students, giving the survey nearly a 24 percent response rate. The poll was assisted by a faculty advisory committee including Profs. Tom Guterbock, Paul Freedman, Nicholas Winter, Lynn Sanders, and Siva Vaidhyanathan, as well as the Center for Survey Research.
The 6,000 students selected for the survey were chosen randomly from a comprehensive list of undergraduate student emails. The survey was conducted anonymously, with an option to enter an email address at the end for follow up questions for Cavalier Daily articles. Respondents were not required to answer any of the questions asked.
In the original poll, 66.53 percent of respondents were female, 32.23 percent were male, 0.83 percent identified as other and 0.42 percent said they preferred not to answer. Additionally, 36.48 percent of respondents said they were first-years, compared with 21.01 percent who were second-years, 21.42 percent who were third-years, 20.60 percent who were fourth or more and 0.50 percent who identified as “other.” In order for the polling to accurately reflect the student body, with the help of the Center for Survey Research, these numbers were weighted based on gender and year, and the polling data used in Cavalier Daily articles reflects that weighting. Other demographics, such as race and in-state residence, mirrored the student body enough not to require weighting.
