Confidentiality Practices

Yale Student, Faculty, Parent, and Alumni Surveys

This document is intended to provide information and address potential concerns about the confidentiality of surveys administered by the Office of Institutional Research.

• Surveys are administered and analyzed by Yale’s Office of Institutional Research (OIR) and conform to high standards for the treatment of confidential data. OIR staff are the only Yale employees who have access to survey data and all analysts have completed training in Human Research Protection.
• Individually identifiable survey responses will not be provided to any students, faculty, or administrators outside the Office of Institutional Research. Some narrative comments may be provided to high-level administrators for the purpose of program or service improvement.
• Most surveys administered by OIR are confidential and not anonymous. Anonymous surveys make it impossible to prevent multiple responses per person or to send reminders only to non-respondents. Administering surveys in a way that is confidential rather than anonymous allows the research team to streamline the experience of taking a survey. Additionally, to increase the usefulness of surveys OIR may combine responses with other information about participants.
• Results will be aggregated for all reporting such that the identity of specific individuals cannot be inferred, even by knowledgeable readers. All analysis for projects is subject to minimum cell sizes and disclosure prevention to meet the requirements of responsible research and confidentiality.

Please contact Lily Svensen at (203) 432-7085 with any questions about Yale student, faculty, parent, and alumni surveys or these policies.