Potential sources of data include students, staff members, faculty, administrators, people in other community colleges, and community members.

From these possible sources of data, determine whose points of view are needed. Also decide whether to obtain information from direct and/or indirect sources, whether to use a representative or a full group, and what subgroups are important to consider.

A practical consideration is availability of the identified data sources. If you want information from students who attended the college two years ago, you may have more difficulty contacting students from some programs than from others. It may depend on what records a program kept or on where the program graduates tended to go after participation in a program.