Backup - Communicating with Recent Graduates: Making Sense of the GDS
The Graduate Destination Survey (GDS), with the Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) or Postgraduate Research Experience Questionnaire (PREQ) attached, is sent to all new Australian university graduates every year. The aim is to take a snapshot of what recent graduates are doing in terms of their post-graduation activities and to gather information from them about their higher education experience.
IntroductionThe Graduate Destination Survey (GDS), with the Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) or Postgraduate Research Experience Questionnaire (PREQ) attached, is sent to all new Australian university graduates every year. The aim is to take a snapshot of what recent graduates are doing in terms of their post-graduation activities and to gather information from them about their higher education experience.
The Graduate Careers Council of Australia co-ordinates the collection, processing and return of data to institutions prior to national reporting. The data files are used within institutions for course and careers advice, institutional planning and quality assessment.
Many people, beyond those who originally collected the data, are now making use of the information. The purpose of this paper is to act as an introduction to the GDS methodology, and the data gathered, to ensure that users understand the nature of the information and assist them in extracting figures useful and relevant to their needs.
Arguably, the challenge of a great deal of social research is to make sense of some (usually small) part of the world in a manner that enables us to understand and communicate about subjects that are often complex. This includes collecting, analysing and distributing the data and results in a manner that ensures users can make sense of the information and employ it as it was intended.
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