The categories below contain ways to ask about demographic characteristics that have become more and more common in surveys and questionnaires, with the exception of how to inquire about race, ethnicity, and international status.
Additionally, all topics can be found in a single PDF.
Regarding how response options are displayed below, the following symbols denote the difference between check-all-that-apply responses and forced-choice responses:
● Before an option denotes that those responding should be able to choose all that apply
▢ Before an option denotes a forced choice/single option for those responding
Changing a question from a check/select-all-that-apply to a forced choice is problematic, since many times students (and others) can find themselves in more than one option. Our questions should always allow students to provide as much information to us as we wish to ensure the accuracy of our data and demographic slices.
If you have questions about anything here or would like to discuss something that hasn't been included, please contact OARDE staff.
| How old an individual is as of a given point in time |
| What is your age? OR What is your date of birth? (depends on response sought) |
| Most Inclusive | Acceptable | University Records | Not Acceptable |
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n/a |
^ it is suggested that if you ask for date of birth in Qualtrics that you use data validation to ensure a real year is provided
* As with date of birth, it is suggested that you use data validation in Qualtrics to ensure a real (and feasible) age is provided
** if you offer a range of ages, make sure that they do not overlap, meaning the same age does not fall into two options (e.g., ask 17-19, 20-22, 23-25, not 17-19, 19-21, 21-23, 23-25)
| Employment and work status are information that can help us understand everything a student is managing while enrolled at ISU. |
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The most direct way to ask a student about this information is:
Are you currently employed? Do not include any volunteering you do for no pay.
If they select any of the “Yes” answers, it may be useful to know where their places of employment are.
Where do you work?
Particularly if the student indicates they work in both on- and off-campus jobs, it may be helpful to know how many jobs the student currently holds.
How many jobs do you currently hold? This can be responded to with an open text box wherein a student can provide a number OR with a drop down box with a set of numbers for each location of work (on/off campus). Consider using validation in Qualtrics to ensure that an open-ended question results in a viable or feasible answer.
It may also be useful to know if a student is receiving Federal Work-Study funds. Note that Federal Work-Study funds can be used in some off-campus employment settings.
Do you receive Federal Work-Study as part of your financial aid package?
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| At Iowa State University, a student is classified as being first-generation if, and only if, neither parent nor guardian has a four-year college degree. |
| How to ask: Which of the following best describes the educational experience of your parents/guardians? |
| Most Inclusive | Acceptable | University Records | Not Acceptable |
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n/a |
| Food Insecurity |
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| Food insecurity is the state of not having reliable access to sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food. |
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This is a two question survey:
Both questions are answered on the same scale:
If either question has a response other than Never True, that person is considered as having low food security. Higher scores may indicate higher levels of food insecurity
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* Note: the USDA survey calls for surveying about the previous 12 months; however, given that circumstances often change quickly for college students and that students may not have even been near campus for large periods of time in the previous 12 months, shortening the length of time to 30, 45, or 60 days is acceptable to help ISU determine where students are at so we can get them the appropriate support. If the question is being asked for research purposes, use the 12 month timeframe.
| Housing Insecurity |
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| Housing insecurity is lack of security in an individual shelter that is the result of high housing costs relative to income, poor housing quality, and/or homelessness. |
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There are six questions to this survey:
Each question is answered on the same scale:
If any question has a response other than No, that person is considered as having low housing security. Higher scores may indicate higher levels of housing insecurity. |
| Gender/Gender Identity |
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| Whether a student currently serves or has ever served in a branch of the United States military. |
| How to ask: In what ways are you affiliated with the United States military? Please select all that apply. |
| Most Inclusive (barring a fill-in-the-blank) | Acceptable | University Records | Inappropriate (do not use) |
| ▢ Agender ▢ Genderqueer or Gender Fluid ▢ Gender Nonconforming ▢ Man * ▢ Non-binary ▢ Questioning or Unsure ▢ Transgender ▢ Transgender Man ▢ Transgender Woman ▢ Woman * ▢ An identity not listed here, please specify: ▢ Prefer not to disclose |
▢ Man * ▢ Transgender ▢ Woman * ▢ Gender Nonconforming ▢ An identity not listed here, please specify: ▢ Prefer not to disclose |
Not currently asked. |
Male/Female, other sex terms (see below) "Other" as an option |
* Some prefer to replace Woman with Cisgender Woman and Man with Cisgender Man to denote respondents whose personal identity and gender matches their birth sex.
| Sex/Sex Assigned at Birth |
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| Biological, assigned at birth |
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How to ask: What is your sex? |
| Most Inclusive (barring a fill-in-the-blank) | Acceptable | University Records * | Inappropriate (do not use) |
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Man/Woman, other gendered terms (see above) "Other" as an option |
* Our federal reporting requirements do not allow for us to report on “Prefer not to disclose” responses. Students must choose one of the two options available for this question.
| Sexual Identity or Sexual Orientation |
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| How someone relates to the gender or genders to which they are (sexually) attracted |
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How to ask:
What is your sexual orientation? Please check all that apply. |
| Most Inclusive (barring a fill-in-the-blank) | Acceptable | University Records | Inappropriate (do not use) |
| ▢ Asexual ▢ Bisexual ▢ Gay ▢ Lesbian ▢ Pansexual ▢ Queer ▢ Questioning/Unsure ▢ Same-Gender-Loving ▢ Straight (heterosexual) ▢ An identity not listed here, please specify: ▢ Prefer not to disclose |
▢ Bisexual ▢ Gay ▢ Lesbian ▢ Queer ▢ Straight (heterosexual) ▢ An identity not listed here, please specify: ▢ Prefer not to disclose |
Not currently asked |
"Other" as an option |
For more information on asking gender identity, sex assigned at birth, and sexual identity/orientation, visit the Asking about Sexuality & Gender in Research guide from ISU’s Center for LGBTQIA+ Student Success.
| Involvement relates to knowing the clubs, organizations, or areas a student is engaged while enrolled at Iowa State. |
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The list below is not at all exhaustive, but can serve as a basis for asking students where/how they’re involved on campus.
Since you have been at student at Iowa State University, have you been a member of or participated in any of the following? Please select all that apply. ▢ Campus NCAA Athletics
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| Living arrangement allows for determining where a student is living while enrolled in classes at Iowa State University. |
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There are several different ways this question can be asked, depending on the level of granularity or detail required. Note these are examples and are not at all exhaustive ways to ask or provide responses to this question.
Where do you live during the school year?
Option 1:
Option 2:
Option 3:
Knowing who a student lives with may also be of interest, and asking this question can provide different levels of insight into a student’s experience.
With whom do you live during the school year? Check all that apply. ▢ No one; I live alone |
| Whether a student currently serves or has ever served in a branch of the United States military. |
| How to ask: In what ways are you affiliated with the United States military? Please select all that apply. |
| Most Inclusive | University Records | Not Acceptable |
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▢ Active duty service member in the U.S. Armed Forces |
▢ Active duty service member in the U.S. Armed Forces |
n/a |
The university also asks the following questions with forced-choice responses of Yes or No for each:
Are you a child or spouse/domestic partner of a US Veteran or a currently serving US military member?
Are you eligible to receive military education benefits from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs?
It is permissible to ask students the branch of the military with which they have an affiliation. Options to list in a check-all-that-apply format would be:
▢ Air Force
▢ Army
▢ Coast Guard
▢ National Guard
▢ Navy
▢ Marine Corps
▢ Space Force
The university does not maintain records as to the branch or branches of service with which a student is affiliated, only that they were affiliated with the U.S. military in some way, shape, or form.
Note that non-U.S. citizens can and do serve in the United States military. While the Military-Affiliated Student Center does serve veterans of other countries’ militaries, the university does not track military affiliation for international students.
| Residency is broadly used to determine if a student is from Iowa (and, sometimes, what county in Iowa they are from), from the U.S. but a state other than Iowa, or international. |
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Residency classification is done at the time of application to the institution, unless the student has need to appeal or change their residency. There is a well-laid out discussion of the residency classification process in the ISU Catalog.
If data maintained by the Office of the Registrar cannot be used, or if we are collecting data in a way that there is no way to match against university data, the following question can be asked:
I am from:
Respectively, those options would give you responses of
Pursuant to the discussion above about international students and race/ethnicity, it is possible to use the qualifier of “Are you an international student?” to drive skip or display logic in Qualtrics to show this question only to those students indicating they are not international.
Please also note that a student may be a U.S. citizen but residing in another country. Take care to not conflate or confuse residency with citizenship.
On occasion, it may be useful to know what county in Iowa a student is from; while a list of counties can be provided to respondents and they can choose one, that list is 99 counties long. It may be easier to provide an open-ended textbox for students to complete if to get at that level of granularity. |
| How a person is affiliated with Iowa State University. |
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How to ask: What is your university affiliation? |
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There are many different ways someone responding to a survey or question could be affiliated with Iowa State University, and depending on the population being asked, there are multiple ways of asking for this information. Note that what’s below is not an exhaustive list of ways to answer or respond to the question, but are ways that will garner most people the information they’re wanting to gather.
Response set option 1: ▢ Undergraduate student
Response set option 2: ▢ Undergraduate student
Response set option 3: ▢ Student
Note: Leaving this question with a completely open-ended, fill-in-the-blank response option will result in a wide interpretation of what you’re looking for. It is highly recommended that provide a check-all-that-apply option like above that allows for some open-ended responses as demonstrated.
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| How a student is affiliated with one or more academic colleges. |
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How to ask: What college or colleges are you affiliated with? Please check all that apply. |
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▢ College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
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* Note: While students working toward a master’s or doctoral degree are enrolled in a specific degree program often housed within a single college, they are technically students in the Graduate College. If this question is asked in conjunction with a question asking about classification at the institution and/or the previous affiliation question, Graduate College enrollment can be assumed and noted as such based on a response of being a graduate or professional student. Otherwise, this question should have a response set that is “check-all-that-apply” so that those in the graduate college can be identified as such. Most students do not realize they are in the Graduate College first and then in an academic college, so this option may result in skewed or incorrect data being collected
| How a student is classified at Iowa State University |
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Highest level of categorization:
If you want greater specificity than those three options, then the following options are available:
If Graduate, then:
If Professional, then:
If Undergraduate, then: 1. The determination of a student being a New Direct from High School (NDHS) or Transfer student needs to be determined. A student is defined as being a transfer student if they were enrolled at another college or university prior to applying to Iowa State University. This does not include students who brought credit with them because they took college courses while in high school.
The easiest way to ask this question is:
Are you a transfer student?
2. If they respond with “No”, then either of the two sets of questions below can be asked. If they respond with “Yes”, then only the second set of categories (Credits Accrued) is broadly appropriate.
If it is known that population being surveyed is only NDHS students, then this question can be skipped.
Temporal Categories These categories are focused on the amount of time a New Direct from High School student has been enrolled at Iowa State (as opposed to the number of credits they have accrued; see below).
Credits Accrued Categories The categories below are based on credit hours earned by a student. 0-30 is a first-year/freshman student Credits are those a student has earned and transferred to Iowa State University, regardless of where or how they earned them (e.g., a first-year student could come into ISU with 36 AP, IB, and/or dual-enrollment credits and thus would be classified as a sophomore).
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