Advocate Readers' Survey

Advocate Readers' Survey
Survey distributed in the Fall 2002/Winter 2003 Issue

Note: The response rate to the survey was not high enough to produce statistically reliable results. However, the results can serve as a general guide as to the role the magazine plays with its audience, primarily alumni but also law school faculty, staff and students.

      The Advocate, the University of Georgia School of Law alumni magazine, conducted its first readers’ survey in January 2003 to gather information to provide readers with a publication that reflects their interests. The overwhelming majority of the survey respondents graduated post-1980 (73 percent), while 27 percent graduated before 1980. Nearly 60 percent of the respondents were male and 41 percent were female.
      Overall, the magazine enjoys a positive image among its constituents (alumni, faculty, staff and students). Ninety-three percent of the respondents described the magazine as “informative,” 62 percent as “friendly” and 48 percent identified it as “intelligent.” On a scale of 1 to 10 (lowest to highest), the Advocate received an average rating of 8.33 on matters of timeliness/relevance of content, readability, quality of writing, illustrations, photography and the overall look of the magazine. Of these areas, the highest marks were earned for overall appearance and readability. The lowest score (7.6) was for timeliness.
      The majority of alumni (63 percent) replied that biannual distribution was adequate with 55 percent of readers spending 15 to 30 minutes reading each issue. The majority (67 percent) of respondents read the magazine within a few days of its arrival. After reading the Advocate, nearly 40 percent said they saved an article or issue for future reference and/or discussed or sent an article to someone else, while a quarter of the respondents said they felt compelled to be more active at the law school (join an alumni board, contribute financially or other).
       The recent placement of the Advocate on the Internet has attracted 5 percent of the respondents as frequent users, while 58 percent indicated they will visit the online version “sometimes.” However, over a third (37%) indicated they do not plan to read the magazine online.
       The survey results showed readers are most likely to read material in the magazine because of familiarity with the individuals or work featured in the articles, with the most popular topics being alumni news, faculty news and research, and campus/student life respectively. Curiosity about subject matter that personally interests the readers and issues affecting the law school also ranked high on material read. Short news items and brief profiles proved to be the types of articles that would most likely be read, while there is little or no interest in how-to or self-help articles. The most thoroughly read sections are Class Notes, Headlines, Alumni Activities and Faculty Accomplishments respectively.
   Regarding how the magazine accomplished certain objectives, keeping abreast of faculty news and research and staying informed of School of Law activities ranked the highest. These were closely followed in order by staying informed about alumni activities, aware of the school’s aspirations and objectives, and connected to other Georgia Law alumni. As anticipated, enhancing the reader’s knowledge of current topics and trends in law ranked lowest at 5.3 on a scale of 1 to10 (lowest to highest).

Below are the full results of the survey.

Advocate Readers' Survey Results
Survey distributed in the Fall 2002/Winter 2003 Issue

Out of the completed surveys, 27 percent of the respondents graduated prior to 1980 while 73% graduated post 1980; 59% were male and 41% were female.

Note: The response rate to the survey was not high enough to produce statistically reliable results. However, the results can serve as a general guide as to the role the magazine plays with its audience, primarily alumni but also law school faculty, staff and students.

What topics do you like (or would you like) to read about in the Advocate (check all that apply)?

The alumni community-87%
Faculty news and research-80%
Campus/student life-67%
Legal trends and issues-48%
Workplace/career issues-43%
General university news-25%

What types of articles are you most likely to read (check all that apply)?

Brief profiles-92%
Short news items-87%
Opinion/commentary-50%
Full-length features-38%
How-to or self-help articles-23%

We publish the Advocate twice a year. Should we publish it more frequently?

2 times per year is adequate-63%
3 times per year-20%
4 times per year-13%

How much time do you spend reading each issue?

15-30 minutes-55%
30-60 minutes-23%
More than one hour-12%
Less than 15 minutes-10%
Don't read it-0%

In general, I get around to reading the magazine:

Within a few days of its arrival-67%
Within two weeks-23%
Within a month-7%
In bits and pieces over several weeks and months-3%

Which sections do you read most thoroughly (check all that apply)?

Class Notes (updates on classmates and profiles)-80%
Headlines (high profile, brief news items)-72%
Alumni Activities (alumni events and messages from alumni board leaders)-68%
Faculty Accomplishments (news and research)-62%
Features (top news at the law school, in-depth profiles of alumni, photo essays of events)-55%
Student Briefs (student activities and profiles)-52%
Hirsch Hall Highlights (general news briefs)-48%
International Insights (primarily Rusk Center news)-12%

We published five feature-length articles in the December 2002/January 2003 issue. Which did you read (or intend to read-check all that apply)?

Renovation update-72%
Carl Sanders' $1 million donation-67%
Verner Chaffin's legacy-62%
Patterson's article on copyright-23%
Johnson's article on Enron and bankruptcy-22%

I am most likely to read something in the magazine because of (check all that apply):

Familiarity with the individuals or work featured in a story-87%
Subject matter that interests me-80%
Curiosity about issues concerning the school-65%
I read everything in the magazine-13%

Which of the following adjectives would you use to describe the magazine (check all that apply)?

Informative-93%
Friendly-62%
Intelligent-48%
Useful-35%
Dry-8%
Irrelevant-3%
Confusing-0%

We have just placed the Advocate online. How often do you anticipate reading the online version?

Sometimes-58%
Not at all-37%
Frequently-5%

Which of the following actions have you taken as a result of reading or looking through the magazine (check all that apply)?

Saved and article or issue for future reference-38%
Discussed or sent an article to someone else-37%
Renewed contact with a Georgia Law colleague-32%
Felt compelled to be more active at the school (join an alumni board, contribute financially or other)-25%
Sought additional information on a topic-12%
Wrote a letter to the editor or other law school official-5%

The average score received for each of the categories is provide below.

On a scale of 1 to 10, rate the magazine in the following areas:

The overall look-8.75
Readability-8.7
Quality of illustration and photography-8.4
Quality of writing-8.2
Timeliness/relevance of content-7.6

On a scale of 1 to 10, please rate how successful the magazine is in accomplishing the following objectives:

Keeping you in touch with faculty news and research-8.3
Keeping up-to-date on campus news and topics related to Georgia Law-7.7
Keeping you informed about alumni activities-7.4
Making you aware of the school's aspirations and objectives-7.4
Keeping you connected to other UGA School of Law alumni-7.0
Enhancing your knowledge of current topics and trends in law-5.3