2009 IT career survival guide: Salary survey methodology
An Internet survey of more than 7,200 Computerworld readers provides insight into salary and career trends for IT pros
Follow @infoworldComputerworld's 22nd Annual Salary Survey was administered via the Internet. Responses from both Computerworld print subscribers and visitors to Computerworld.com were included in the survey results.
Starting on May 20, 2008, the following methods were used to invite participants to the survey:
[ InfoWorld has put together a special package of stories to help tech workers through the current tough times. Among the highlights:
* Slideshow: Where IT jobs are headed
* Special report: 2009 IT career survival guide
* Special report: Where the tech jobs are overseas (and how to get one)
* Special report: Tech workers under fire
* Special report: IT and the financial crisis
* Get sage advice on IT careers and management from Bob Lewis in InfoWorld's Advice Line blog and newsletter. ]
* An invitation was posted on the home page of Computerworld.com.
* Each visitor to Computerworld.com was presented with a pop-up box inviting participation in the survey (with a frequency cap of one per user). Visitors were given the option of bypassing the survey to get to their intended destinations.
* Links to the survey were included in various Computerworld e-mail newsletters.
Computerworld subscribers employed in IT job functions were sent an e-mail message from salarysurvey@computerworld.com inviting them to participate in the survey. For tracking purposes, each participant received a unique address to gain access to the questionnaire. Subscribers could either click on the address to gain access to the questionnaire or enter the address into a Web browser. A survey couldn't be submitted more than once from each unique address.
Cookies were used to ensure that there was no duplication of responses between or within the various sample groups. In addition, any duplicate responses from a single e-mail address were removed.
An ad containing the survey link was included in issues of Computerworld.
The survey ended July 25, 2008. A total of 7,272 individuals responded. Of those respondents, 6,801 were employed full or part time and were eligible to complete the entire survey. At the 95 percent confidence level, the margin of error for this sample size is +/- 1.2 percentage points. Compensation figures for 2007 were calculated based on the percentage change reported by the respondents.
Demographics
Eighty-four percent of our respondents were men, 93 percent were employed full time, and 46 percent said a bachelor's degree was their highest level of education. Respondents had an average of 16 years in IT, and their average age was 43. Forty-nine percent indicated that they had some level of computer certification.
