Public

Standard Recommended Methodology

The aim of the Graduate Careers Council of Australia’s (GCCA) annual Graduate Destination Survey (GDS) is to collect information about the activities of graduates after the completion of their degrees. The intention of the Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) and the Postgraduate Research Experience Questionnaire (PREQ) is to gather data about graduates’ perceptions of their higher education experience. The responses to these surveys provide valuable feedback to universities, and their staff and current students. They also provide information for prospective students to assist them in making informed course and career decisions, and careers advisers can integrate the survey results into their counselling practices.

To improve the quality of the data gathered in the GDS, CEQ and PREQ, it is vital that all universities conform as closely as possible to a standard survey form and methodology. Each institution runs its own part of the GDS, CEQ and PREQ, and the variation in departments handling the work and their expectations of the data and the resources they could call upon have been considered in the development of these guidelines.

The issues discussed in the Standard Recommended Methodology document represent recommended standard methodological practice aimed at ensuring a consistent and high level of quality in the management of the major aspects of the survey process. Some major non-methodological issues relevant to the project are also discussed. New data gathering and analysis processes made possible by technology are also canvassed.

As the CEQ is a component of the GDS, the points discussed in this document regarding the latter generally cover both instruments. The PREQ is currently under development independent of the GDS and is discussed in a separate section in the document.

Download the current version of the Standard Recommended Methodology:

The previous version of the document is also archived below: