Background for the Research
Background information on the conductor of the survey

The follow-up survey was initiated by CCRTVU, a dedicated distance education institution, which offers multimedia university courses through print, TV, audio-visual materials, CAI courseware and online provision via the Internet. Together with 44 Provincial Radio and TV Universities (PRTVUs), 945 branch schools and about 3,175 study centres, CCRTVU has formed a nation-wide distance education system. Within the system, CCRTVU functions as the centre for the design, production and delivery of the major courses, and the teaching is implemented and managed at different levels. The learning resources, teaching activities, teaching management and learner support are transmitted through the RTVU system by satellite network, the Internet and a nationwide teaching management network. On the whole, the educational system is within the general supervision and management of CCRTVU. To make it clearer, see the following graph:

The whole RTVU system described above contributed a great deal to the administration of the follow-up survey, as discussed later.

Background information on the subjects of the survey—the graduates of RTVUs and their employers
According to the annual statistics of CCRTVU, 94.5% of RTVU students are in-service working adults who are normally registered with the nearby study centre. They are widely dispersed all over China, which makes the collection of feedback very difficult. However, with the help of the RTVU system, this difficulty can to some extent be reduced.

Graduates' direct managers were chosen as subjects for the follow-up survey as well, since it is believed that they had the most contact with the graduate at work and would be in the right position to comment on the graduates' performance.

The above two formed the two major groups of subjects for the follow-up survey, since they were regarded as the most important "customers" of CCRTVU distance education programmes. Their feedback was highly valued and contributed significantly to the improvement of teaching as discussed later.

Research Content and Methodology
Research objectives

This study was a follow-up survey to obtain feedback on how graduates viewed the education they had received from CCRTVU open learning programmes and how their employers evaluated the graduates who had received the education from CCRTVU. All the feedback collected through the follow-up survey would in turn be fed into improving the programmes. At the same time, CCRTVU established a mechanism for collecting feedback on a large scale as well as on a regular basis. This paper will focus on the latter.

The mechanism for collecting feedback

The mechanism was made up of two major parts, i.e., the measurement instrument for the follow-up survey and the administrative process of the follow-up survey. These two are discussed in detail below.

• The measurement instrument for the follow-up survey
  The measurement instrument was the basis for the follow-up survey of RTVU graduates and their employers, which was devised to measure the graduates' perception of the quality of CCRTVU open learning programmes and their employers' view of the overall quality of RTVU graduates. It mainly comprised the indicators, the rating scales, questionnaires and the outlines for interviews.
  
  As defined by the objectives of the study, the indicators were divided into two parts: one for evaluating CCRTVU open learning programmes, with 4 I-level indicators, 14 II-level indicators and 28 III-level indicators; the other for evaluating the overall quality of its graduates with five I-level indicators, 14 II-level indicators and 20 III-level ones. Each of the indicators was then clearly defined in terms of measurable behaviors and criteria for evaluation. Weighting coefficients were assigned to each of the indicators. Finally, questionnaires were designed based on the indicators. It is worth mentioning that the indicators for the CCRTVU follow-up survey based their "criteria for assessment" and "weighting coefficient for indicators" on a five-point rating scale and the weighting coefficient was decided by the Delphi method.
  
  Questionnaires were divided into two types, i.e., those for the graduates and those for their employers, or direct managers to be more exact. The former included demographic information on the graduates, information related to the graduates' job (position, promotion and award, etc), and evaluation of the open learning programme they had received. The latter was intended to gain information on the employers' view of the quality of the RTVU graduates.
  
  The outlines for the interviews were also divided into two types, i.e., those for the graduates and those for their employers. The interviews were aimed at getting further information related to the research objectives that was unable to be obtained in detail through the questionnaires.
   
• The administrative process of the follow-up survey
  A well-controlled administrative process for a follow-up survey, especially during the key stages, is essential to the collection of valid and reliable feedback. The follow-up survey in this study followed the administrative process as described below:
  
  Forming the research team responsible for conducting the survey - training of the participants involved in conducting the follow-up survey - sampling - tracing graduates and their employers, distributing and collecting questionnaires - conducting interviews - data entry and processing - analysing the data - writing reports.
  
  The first five stages were the key ones for the follow-up survey. These stages should be tightly controlled so that systemic errors can be effectively reduced, thus improving the reliability of the results.