Hampshire Impact Study

Study Design

Starting in winter of 2015, the Hampshire Impact Study interviewed the same group of students for four years, beginning their first year at Hampshire and continuing to their graduation in 2018 and will conduct follow-up interviews one year and four years after graduation. While they were at Hampshire, we asked these students questions on core thematic areas: experiences particular to their year at Hampshire (i.e. first-year experience, etc.); divisional transitions; advising relationship; classroom experience; academic focus; intellectual community; environment for diversity, equity, and inclusion; out of classroom experiences; and narrative evaluations.

The Hampshire Research Project launched the first round of the Hampshire Impact Study in February of 2015 and most recently completed analysis of the fourth round of interviews conducted prior to the students graduation in 2018. 

Study Participants

We used a stratified, random sample to identify a group of students from the entire 14F class to contact for participation in the study. Fifty-one students, comprising 20% of the entire 14F class population, participated in the first round of interviews in 2015. These fifty-one students were statistically representative of the 14F class in terms of gender, race, and first-generation student status. In 2016 and 2017, we invited transfer students with the same expected graduation as the 14F class to join our study and added a total of 7 transfer students across the two years. (For more information on our study design, sampling techniques, and participant demographics, email hrp@hampshire.edu). 

First Round of Interviews

In February and March of 2015 we successfully conducted the fifty-one qualitative, semi-structured interviews. In addition to the core thematic areas mentioned above, we asked students about their visit to and selection of Hampshire; anticipating their arrival; their academic, social, and emotional transition; orientation experience; first-year tutorial; and their living situation. We compensated all student participants for their time with a local gift card.

Second Round of Interviews

In February and March of 2016, we interviewed a total of forty-three students, thirty-seven from the 2015 sample plus four transfer students and two students who responded positively to our invitation in 2015 but couldn't make an interview. In addition to the core thematic areas mentioned above, we asked students about their second year at Hampshire; their transition from Div I to Div II; their understanding of Div II; and the resources and supports they use on campus. As before, we compensated all student participants for their time with a local gift card.

Third Round of Interviews

We interviewed a total of thirty-four students in February and March of 2017, thirty-three from our original 2015 sample, three F15 transfers, and three F16 transfers. In addition to the core thematic areas addressed in years one and two, we also asked students about their experience moving through Div II. As before, we compensated all student participants for their time with a local gift card.

Fourth Round of Interviews

In February and March of 2018, we interviewed a total of thirty-four students, thirty-one from our original 2015 sample, one F15 transfer, and two F16 transfers. In addition to the core thematic areas addressed in years one through three, we also asked students about their experience transitioning into Div III and their post-graduate plans. As before, we compensated all student participants for their time with a gift card.

Analysis

Over the summers of 2015, 2016, and 2017, the Hampshire Impact Study research team, composed of the senior researcher, graduate research assistant, and undergraduate summer research fellows, coded and analyzed interview transcripts and drafted reports. In our analyses, we utilized a deductive and an inductive coding scheme, meaning that we generated some analytic codes prior to analysis, while other codes emerged from the data itself. 

In 2018, the senior researcher worked with the dean of curriculum and assessment to analyze the 2018 interviews and conduct longitudinal analyses.  

Research Reports and Presentations

Members of the Hampshire Community can log into the Hampshire Intranet to access current research reports. 

Faculty members can email hrp@hampshire.edu for copies of Faculty Presentations given at school meetings from 2015-2017.