Findings: Secondary Research

Brenda Dow, vice president of client services at Vincent McCabe, Inc., who originated and championed Project KEEP US and served as client contact, assisted the student researchers in their search for existing information on which to build. Significant secondary research was conducted prior to the start of the course to identify a niche for information that the students could effectively fill, as well as to build on previous studies of Central New York and similar research conducted elsewhere in the country.

Local Information
For the local area, the literature search included the the Essential New York Initiative, a report issued by the Metropolitan Development Association (MDA) of Syracuse and Central New York, Inc. in February 2004; the Greater Syracuse Citistates report; and Syracuse Post-Standard coverage of related topics spanning the last five years.

National Information
At the national level, of particular note were studies of college students and recent college graduates that were conducted on behalf of greater Baltimore, Boston, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, all with the goal of holding on to college students after graduation. "Literature Search Findings" is a Vincent McCabe, Inc. report prepared Sept. 27, 2004, as background for student researchers regarding initial national-level secondary research with an overview of findings and links to study information available on the web.