The Focus staff thanks all of our readers who responded to the 2007 readership survey, conducted last spring and summer, with data compiled in the fall. To save mailing costs, we sent out the questionnaire electronically to a random sample of the same population we surveyed in 1996, 1998, and 2001. Results were similar to previous years, though the response rate was lower; earlier, paper-based surveys had a rate of about 40 percent while the recent survey had a rate of 20 to 40 percent, depending on the constituency. In order to increase participation in future surveys, we plan to continue the cost-saving electronic approach, but to offer a series of prizes to induce more readers to respond.
While interpretation of the 2007 results has to account for the possibility of response bias, answers to several key questions stand out as consistent across the years.
When given the statement that Focus helps foster a sense of belonging to the Harvard Medical community, a majority since 1996 has either strongly or somewhat agreed. In the 2007 survey, 72 percent of Quad faculty strongly or somewhat agreed, and 81 percent of the affiliate faculty checked these answers. (The response rate of the Quad faculty was 37 percent and that of the affiliate faculty was 21 percent.)
Since 1996, we have increased the average amount of space we devote to the Research Briefs section, and we have maintained this research bias through the briefs and the page 1 science features. This emphasis was validated in the 2007 survey, with 98 percent of Quad faculty expressing medium or high interest in the briefs and page 1 features; and among affiliate faculty, 98 percent expressed medium or high interest in the features and 95 percent expressed medium or high interest in the briefs.
The 2007 survey also found that 87 percent of Quad faculty and 88 percent of affiliate faculty spend from five to more than 20 minutes reading each issue of Focus.
