Data Reporting
Your School’s Data Deliverables
HMN’s data reporting initiatives are designed to facilitate the translation of mental health research into practice on college and university campuses. In order to make the research as useful as possible, the HMN team provides participating institutions with numerous ways to examine their data:
- Customized data sets: Participating institutions receive a de-identified data set containing their students’ responses to the survey items. These data are provided in multiple file formats (e.g., SPSS, Stata, and Excel). Institutions also receive spreadsheets containing their students’ responses to open-ended survey questions. To ensure that individuals are able to work efficiently with their campus data, the HMN team also provides access to a comprehensive codebook. Examples of the data sets can be found by viewing our national data sets, on our Data for Researchers page.
- Customized data reports: Participating institutions receive a customized data report with tables and graphs illustrating findings for key survey items and an appendix containing descriptive statistics for other items. These reports include comparisons to the national sample of schools. Examples of the aggregated, national reports are provided below. Institutions receive electronic and hard copies of their customized data reports. Campuses that choose to add custom items to the survey also receive a data report containing the results of those items. Examples of the data reports can be found by viewing our national data reports, on our Data for Researchers page.
- Interactive data interface: Contacts at participating institutions are able to log in to a secure server to further explore their data. In a drop-down menu format, the data interface allows individuals to easily generate graphs and tables for presentations. It is also easy to examine sub-groups of interest, such as differences in depressive symptoms between men and women or undergraduate and graduate students. Instructions for using the data interface can be found here.
- Translation of findings to an economic case for services/programs: Participating institutions receive a brief customized memo summarizing how their data can be translated to an economic case for student mental health services and programs. An example of the economic case memo we draft for your school can be found here. For general data on the economic case for investing in college mental health, download this infographic.
- The HMN team is always available to provide research consultation and often organizes webinars and other events to promote use of the data.
How Your School’s Data Will be Used
By participating in HMS, you agree to have your school’s data become part of a de-identified, national, aggregate data set, which will be used by Healthy Minds researchers to examine mental health trends, prevalence, and related factors among college students across the nation and beyond.
Furthermore, researchers outside of the Healthy Minds Network may request to use this data for their own research purposes (for more on how to request HMS data, visit our Data for Researchers page). These data sets are always de-identified with regards to your students, and usually blinded with regards to your school.
In rare cases, some researchers may present a significant need for obtaining a data set which contains the names of participating schools (e.g., they are doing regional analyses, they wish to compare “peer” institutions, they wish to compare mental health outcomes to programmatic efforts at various campuses, etc.). If the HMN team and the University of Michigan IRB determine that their justification is sufficient, researchers will be granted a school-identified data set, with the underlying agreement that they will never publicize the names of any schools in relation to their data, in any format.
Researchers who request HMS school-identified data must fill out a Data Use Agreement, subject to review by the University of Michigan IRB and contracts officials.
That being said, any person may view the public National Data reports, found on this page.
