Indiana University Bloomington
Local Data
Home > Local Data > Indiana Youth Survey: Annual Monograph > FAQ

Indiana Youth Survey: Frequently Asked Questions

Below you will find common questions and answers about the IPRC Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Use Survey.

Q. Why is it necessary to schedule the survey during a "five-week sampling window"?

    A. A single sampling time frame is required for two reasons. First, since drug-use rates among adolescents increase rapidly from year to year, comparability of data makes it essential that all participating schools are surveyed at the same time. For example, marijuana use more than doubles between 7th and 8th grade. If one school was to survey in October and another was surveyed in April, the rates could not be aggregated for statewide use, and would make any comparisons with state and national rates less valid. Second, a single sampling time frame greatly reduced the cost of the survey, allowing us to more efficiently use staff. Much of the detail work on local reports is done by doctoral students who work only during the summer. Although schools are not charged for the surveys or standard reports, the project is very expensive, and the costs to the state would more than double if year-round surveys were permitted.

Q. Why do we need to schedule a survey date before or at least two weeks after our Spring Break?

    A. Unfortunately, spring break has become a peak time for binge drinking among Indiana high school students, particularly among those who travel out-of-state. Since the binge drinking question on the survey asks about alcohol use in the two weeks prior to the survey date, scheduling your survey during the two weeks immediately following your spring break would skew your data.

Q. How many copies of our local report does the IPRC provide?

    A. To protect the confidentiality of your data, the IPRC will produce only two copies of your report, and will provide one bound copy and one unbound copy of each local report to the designated contact person prior to August 31, 2007. The unbound copy is provided to facilitate making additional copies. The IPRC does not make additional copies of the local reports, and cannot provide them in the future. The unbound copy is provided to make it easier for you to make copies locally.

Q. Why won't you release our data over the telephone or confirm our data to our superintendent?

    A. To protect confidentiality of participating schools, data are provided only to a single contact person. The IPRC does not verify data (or even verify participation) to local news media, school board members, etc. We also will not discuss the results with the designated single contact person over the phone, if the phone call is incoming. We may ask to call you back and discuss the findings on an outgoing call. That helps us assure the identity of the person to whom we are speaking.

Q. Is there any problem with surveying just grades 7, 9 and 11?

    A. School corporations may select the grades that will be surveyed (subject to IPRC approval, based on statewide needs), however, national comparison data are collected only for grades 8, 10 and 12. There is no national comparison data available for grades 6, 7, 9 and 11. We recommend that you include data from grades 8, 10 and 12 in your plan. We will be happy to survey all grades, but don't usually recommend using just grades that have no national comparison norms.

Q. Our school policies require written parental consent to participate in any survey. What do we do?

    A. Confirm your school policy with your attorneys. If you need to use written (active) parental consent, get started early, and use follow-up calls, etc. Some schools make this work and get enough signed consent forms to allow for meaningful data. To protect the scientific validity, we need to have at least 90% of all eligible students participate. Contact the IPRC for technical assistance if you have problems getting enough parent signatures. To control costs, we insist that you have enough signatures "in-hand" before we ship the blank survey forms to you.