---
title: "Results from my Academic/Practitioner Attitudes surveys now available"
date: 2018-07-17
description: "Survey results Background on the survey Interpreting the survey results Conclusion and next steps  Survey results Here are..."
canonical_url: https://idratherbewriting.com/2018/07/17/interpreting-results-of-academic-practitioner-survey/
---
# Results from my Academic/Practitioner Attitudes surveys now available
- 
 Practitioner responses: [Infographic report](https://s3.us-west-1.wasabisys.com/idbwmedia.com/images/apsurvey/survey_for_practitioners_to_take_infographic.pdf) | [Dashboard report](https://s3.us-west-1.wasabisys.com/idbwmedia.com/images/survey_for_practitioners_to_take.html)

 - 
 Academic responses: [Infographic report](https://s3.us-west-1.wasabisys.com/idbwmedia.com/images/apsurvey/survey_for_academics_to_take_infographic.pdf) | [Dashboard report](https://s3.us-west-1.wasabisys.com/idbwmedia.com/images/survey_for_academics_to_take.html)

QuestionPro (the survey tool I used) provides various ways to present the data. I presented two versions here. I think the Infographic report is a bit more scannable and easy to read, but the Dashboard report provides more details.

## Background on the survey

I initially started shaping the survey topics by asking [open-ended questions](/2018/02/06/survey-to-measure-tc-academic-practitioner-attitudes/) that invited people to respond. I received about 30 responses with *a lot* of feedback to read through. Working with a professor interested in the project, we then formulated the responses into a representative list of [agree/disagree statements](/2018/07/02/survey-for-academics-and-practitioners/) (a Likert scale) whose responses could be quantitatively measured.

I kept the survey open for 2 weeks and, in total, collected 407 practitioner responses and 65 academic responses. As this second survey was a quantitative measure, it gave me a specific number as a baseline to compare later responses.

My plan is to now start the “conversations” phase of my project. I describe this in more detail here: [Academic/Practitioner Conversations](/academic-practitioner-project/). The basic idea is to create conversations (in the form of Q&A posts, guest posts, podcasts, and other exchanges) between practitioners and academics by pulling them both into the same (virtual) space as a means to lessen the divide.

## Interpreting the survey results

Now that the survey results are in, what do we make of the responses? I invite your interpretation and feedback, as data is not always easy to interpret. I feel the most significant response is the answer to the first question:

> Academics understand the challenges and issues that practitioners face in the workplace.

Here’s a breakdown of the responses:

[![](https://s3.us-west-1.wasabisys.com/idbwmedia.com/images/psurvey2.png)](https://s3.us-west-1.wasabisys.com/idbwmedia.com/images/psurvey2.png)

The responses here are varied. If you just look at the overall distribution, the 2.83 score appears as if most are undecided (42% are undecided). But the responses are also a bit polarized. About 35% disagree or strongly disagree, and about 23% agree or strongly agree.

I’m not exactly sure how to interpret this result. It seems like many of the survey statements that follow hinge upon the answer to this question. If you’re undecided about whether academics understand the challenges in the practitioner’s workspace, how can you agree that “practitioners should read academic research publications” or that “research from academics helps advance the field” or that “the research conducted by academics is relevant”? If you’re undecided as to whether academics understand practitioner issues, you can’t really agree with the other statements except as a gesture of soft (but empty) optimism.

Overall, it’s troubling that so many practitioners are undecided. It would be better if they either agreed or disagreed — at least then practitioners would be making a more informed decision. But today we have entire communities of practice sprouting up (e.g., Write the Docs) that have very little knowledge of (or exposure to) any of the research produced by TC academics.