Quantitative Methods Professors' Perspectives on the Cost of College Textbooks

ABSTRACT Textbooks are an integral component of the higher education process. However, a great deal of concern about the high costs of college textbooks has been expressed by those inside and outside of higher education. This paper focuses on the results of a study of a survey of quantitative methods professors' criteria and use of textbooks and their reactions to some of the changes that have been implemented or may be implemented by universities, state legislatures, and publishers to combat these cost escalations. Quantitative method textbooks rely heavily on software such as MS Excel and often publishers must produce a new edition solely based on updated versions of software. The purpose of the study was to determine the role of cost in the textbooks selection process and to get reactions to various options aimed at reducing textbook cost. Findings indicate that content was the most important selection criteria and cost was second. Respondents appear to have strong resistance to university, legislative, and publisher actions that infringe on their options in selecting textbooks and how long they would have to use a specific textbook before replacing it with a newer edition. This was particularly true of a university policy requiring low cost textbooks be adopted and requiring instructors to keep textbooks for all classes for at least 3 years and publishers sending an invoice after a 30 day review period and sending only one examination per department. There were also significant differences among respondents based on t-tests and ANOVA. Professors who received complaints concerning textbook cost ranked cost as more important than their counterparts. Similarly professors teaching ten years are less ranked the cost of the text as more important than those who had taught move than ten years. Professors who switched textbooks every two years or less were more opposed to legislation requiring keeping textbooks for longer periods. Similarly, instructors were significantly more favorable to keeping textbooks for longer periods than associate or full professors. Finally, full professors were more inclined to favor tracking systems to identify book collectors. INTRODUCTION Textbooks in higher education are used by instructors in varying ways. Some instructors use the text as a supplement to other course material while other instructors use the text as the primary source of course material. In either case, the textbook is a critical element in higher education instruction. Stein, Stuen, Camine, and Long (2001) noted that textbooks are believed to provide 75 to 90 percent of classroom instruction. This central role of textbooks in the instructional process is normally an impetus for college professors to spend a considerably amount of time selecting the appropriate text for their classes. One factor of textbook adoption that has received a great deal of interest recently is the cost of the text (Carbaugh and Ghosh, 2005; Iizuka, 2007; Seawall, 2005; Talaga and Tucci, 2001; Yang, Lo, and Lester, 2003). For the first quarter of 2007, college textbook sales totaled $324.3 million (Educational Marketer, 2007). Additionally, the price of college textbooks has increased an average of 6% each year since the 1987-88 academic year. While this growth is twice the rate of inflation, tuition has increased at a 7% annual rate. Textbooks and supplies are estimated to cost students between $805 and $1,229 for the 2007-08 school years (National Association of College Stores). The problem has captured the interest of students, professors, and state legislators. In fact, some states have begun to mandate that instructors offer more choice in textbooks, provide the least costly option without sacrificing content, and work to maximize savings to students (HB, 2103). This study examined the attitudes of quantitative methods professors toward the cost of textbooks. Specifically, we looked at attitudes toward various options that state legislatures, universities, and publishers are now using or have discussed as a future action to control the increasing costs of textbooks. …