For many years OUSA has had the intention of doing some of its own primary research. Since its inception, the work of the organization has been firmly rooted in thorough research of a secondary nature, i.e. citing many other scholars work as a basis for our own. This is the foundation for many of the papers, essays and other documents written throughout one’s university career for example. However, with a wealth of students available to us, doing our own studies would give OUSA the added advantage of speaking with authority on issues that are of particular importance on campuses across the province.
So, about three months ago I set out to three of our universities, Brock, McMaster and Laurier, to conduct focus groups with dozens of students. The topics covered were student financial assistance and the importance of student services. A great deal of interesting and unique information was learned dealing with both topics. Some of it was new and surprising, some of it got to the heart of the feelings and emotions behind numbers OUSA always cites. Other information served to reinforce points that OUSA has been writing about for years.
Highlights from these focus groups will be posted on this website in the coming days, but a big thank you goes out to the steering committee members who made them happen and the participants for taking hours out of their day so OUSA could be represent their issues.
Paul S. Bien
Director of Research and Policy Analysis
Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance
Congratulations on taking this step! I’m looking forward to seeing what you came up with.
[...] talked about focus groups LAST WEEK, OUSA’s first foray into primary research, and gave some hints about the depth of valuable [...]