Results of a Telephone Survey of Television Station Managers Concerning the NASA SCI Files and NASA CONNECT
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NASA/TM-2004-213029 Results of a Telephone Survey of Television Station Managers Concerning the NASA SCI Files and NASA CONNECT Thomas E. Pinelli Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia Jeannine Perry Continental Research, Norfolk, Virginia May 2004 The NASA STI Program Office . in Profile Since its founding, NASA has been dedicated to the • CONFERENCE PUBLICATION. Collected advancement of aeronautics and space science. The papers from scientific and technical NASA Scientific and Technical Information (STI) conferences, symposia, seminars, or other Program Office plays a key part in helping NASA meetings sponsored or co-sponsored by NASA. maintain this important role. • SPECIAL PUBLICATION. Scientific, The NASA STI Program Office is operated by technical, or historical information from NASA Langley Research Center, the lead center for NASA’s programs, projects, and missions, often scientific and technical information. 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Pinelli Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia Jeannine Perry Continental Research, Norfolk, Virginia National Aeronautics and Space Administration Langley Research Center Hampton, Virginia 23681-2199 May 2004 The use of trademarks or names of manufacturers in the report is for accurate reporting and does not constitute an official endorsement, either expressed or implied, of such products or manufacturers by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Available from: NASA Center for AeroSpace Information (CASI) National Technical Information Service (NTIS) 7121 Standard Drive 5285 Port Royal Road Hanover, MD 21076-1320 Springfield, VA 22161-2171 (301) 621-0390 (703) 605-6000 Summary Continental Research—a marketing, research, and consulting firm located in Norfolk, Virginia—was commissioned to conduct a telephone survey of television station managers concerning two instructional television programs offered by the NASA Langley Center for Distance Learning (CDL) <http://dlcenter.larc.nasa.gov>. The NASA Langley CDL is an organizational unit of NASA Langley Research Center’s Office of Education. The NASA CDL produces five award-winning distance learning programs that span the educational horizon from K–12 through postsecondary education (13–18) to adult (lifelong) learners. The two Emmy-award-winning instructional television programs under consideration are the NASA SCI Files <http://scifiles.larc.nasa.gov> and NASA CONNECT <http://connect.larc.nasa.gov>. About 500 000 educators in the United States are registered users of these two programs. As of January 5, 2004, the combined number of (domestic) television stations airing these two programs was 373. The survey instrument was pretested among a subset of 15 television stations. Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) technology and protocols were used. (See Method- ology for additional information.) The telephone survey started on January 27, 2004 and ended on February 27, 2004. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) survey approval number is OMB 2700-0012. Reducing the number of television stations airing the 2 programs (373) by the number of stations used in the pretest (15) left a balance of 358 television stations “eligible” to be surveyed. Dividing the number of television stations that participated in the survey (280) by the number of television stations (358) eligible to participate resulted in a survey response rate of 78 percent. Almost half (47.5 percent) of survey participants represented a cable television station, 29.3 percent represented instructional television stations, and 29.3 percent represented a Public Broadcasting System (PBS) station. Overall, survey participants reported that they were either very satisfied (60.4 percent) or satisfied (31.8 percent) with their interactions with the NASA Langley Center for Distance Learning. Almost 100 percent of survey participants indicated that they received NASA SCI Files and NASA CONNECT programming from the NASA Langley Center for Distance Learning. In all, 280 station managers were surveyed during the time allotted for the study. About half (50.7 percent) of survey participants were male; the average age of the survey participants was 44.6 years; and the average number of years survey participants had worked at their current television stations was 7.8 years. Seventy-five percent of the survey participants stated that their stations broadcast programs to school districts. About 86 percent of individuals participating in the survey were personally responsible for deciding which programs were included in the station’s schedule (lineup). Television station managers were asked to identify the single most important factor used to select a program to air on their stations. The top 3 factors reported by 280 station managers were (1) good educa- tional value (16.1 percent), (2) community interest (14.6 percent), and (3) the ability of the program to fit into the educational curriculum (13.2 percent). Using a 10-point scale, with 10 being extremely impor- tant, television station managers were asked to rate the importance (influence) 7 factors have on selecting programs for their television schedules (lineups). The 3 factors rated highest (most important) on a 10-point scale were (1) the educational value of the program (8.85), (2) the cost of the program (8.25), and (3) the technical quality of the program (8.11). About 95 percent of survey participants indicated that they would recommend either the NASA SCI Files or NASA CONNECT to a colleague at another television station. Using a 4-point scale, with 4 being very satisfied, survey participants reported that they were either very satisfied (77.1 percent) or satisfied (19.9 percent) with the overall (educational and technical) quality of the NASA SCI Files. Survey participants also rated the NASA SCI Files on 13 characteristics. The 3 characteristics receiving the highest ratings (scores) were (1) credibility of the programs (3.81), (2) educational value (3.80), and (3) technical quality (3.79). Participants gave the NASA SCI Files an overall rating of 3.78 (out of 4.00). Almost 70 percent of survey participants reported having no suggestions for improving the NASA SCI Files. The single, largest factor reported for improving the NASA SCI Files was to make more programs. Using a 4-point scale, with 4 being very satisfied, survey participants reported that they were either very satisfied (77.9 percent) or satisfied (19.1 percent) with the overall (educational and technical) quality of NASA CONNECT. Survey participants also rated NASA CONNECT on 13 characteristics by using a 4-point scale. The 3 characteristics with the highest ratings were (1) credibility of the programs (3.79), (2) educational value (3.76), and (3) technical quality (3.76). Participants gave NASA CONNECT an overall rating of 3.79. Almost 61 percent of survey participants reported having no suggestions for improving NASA CONNECT. The largest factor reported for improving NASA CONNECT was to make more programs. About 36 percent of the survey participants indicated that state budget cuts have adversely affected the ability to broadcast educational programming. About 70 percent of the survey participants indicated that either they are already streaming video pro- gramming (20.7 percent) or are considering doing so in the immediate future (50.0 percent). About 46 percent of the survey participants indicated that they have either entered