Surveys at the Center for the Study of Local Issues

1. Surveysat the Center for the Study of Local Issues Review CSLI History/Mission How to organize a survey Recent Findings Dan Nataf, Ph.D., Director Center for the Study of Local Issues Anne Arundel Community College 101 College Parkway Arnold, MD 21012-1895 http:www2.aacc.edu/csli ddnataf@aacc.edu 410.777.2733

2. Center for the Study of Local Issues: History and Mission Historical Background: In business since 1978! 1. Initially part of Division of Social Sciences: 1978-1999: faculty came together to form a community college ‘research center’ 2 .Operation as part of Paul S. Sarbanes Center for Public and Community Service 2006-present • Part of a set of research and service learning organizations • that are part of AACC: • Center for Learning through Service, • Environmental Center, • Institute for the Future

3. Center for the Study of Local Issues: History and Mission CSLI - Organization • Advisory Board: composed of about 20 community activists, elected officials, government administrators, students, faculty • Staff: Faulty/Director, Assistant

4. CSLI History and Mission Mission: Provide students with opportunities to better understand applied social science research methods while encouraging civic awareness and engagement Participation in community surveys – over 120 participated in the last survey, conducted Oct. 22-25Participation in client based research projects Student internships– paid, help with all aspects of research – surveys, data entry, telephone interviews, editing reports CSLI student club - Organizes and attends events – Meetings with lobbyists, campaign rallies, Maryland General Assembly/delegates Activities providing students with learning opportunities:

5. CSLI: The Semi-annual Survey How do surveys work – choosing topics • Two major surveys per year - conducted in MarchandOctober • Planning starts at the beginning of each semester – meet with students and advisory board – choose topics!

6. CSLI: The Survey Process How do surveys work – choosing topics • Choice of topic – • Issues of interest to the public and policy makers • Issues that tie into course content

7. CSLI: The Survey Process How do surveys work – choosing topics • Semi-annual survey topics over the last couple of years • Major issues facing the county • Economic conditions in the county • Perceptions of BRAC’s impact on the county • The vision for public schools in the county • Cigarette Tax • Death Penalty • President Bush’s job approval • Lots of demographic info: age, income, occupational status, race, religion, gender, party, ideology

8. CSLI: The Survey Process How do surveys work – choosing topics - Fall 2007 • Major sections • Benchmark Questions – most important problem, economic conditions, County going in the right or wrong direction… • General Development Plan – what’s the role for the public? • Maryland State Budget Deficit – which taxes, if any, could you live with to put the State’s finances in order? • Global Warming – perceptions and policies • Miscellaneous – bow hunting, Iraq, Bush’s job approval • Demographics

9. CSLI: The Survey Process How do surveys work – who gets surveyed? • Identify a populationwhose characteristics and attitudes are interesting to us • Our population – Residents of Anne Arundel County at least 18 years of age • Our goal – Ask a small group (the “sample”) questions • Generalize the findings to the whole population (the “universe”)

10. CSLI: The Survey Process How do surveys work – how many to survey? Find a proper sample size: costs vs. margins of error –Population of 100,000+, confidence interval 95%

11. CSLI: The Survey Process CSLI’s choice: Our “normal target” – sample size of at least 400 Fall 2007 – 936 respondents – margin of error was only 3.13% How do surveys work – how many to survey?

12. CSLI: The Survey Process How do surveys work – how to conduct the survey? (Data collection method) Our choices 1. Face to face – personal interviews 2. Telephone – personal interviews 3. Self-administered - by mail, exit poll, group setting or online

13. CSLI: The Survey Process How do surveys work – how to conduct the survey? (Data collection method) CSLI’s Choice 1. Semi-annual survey =>Telephone – personal interviews – speed, students are available, know when it’s over 2. Other client surveys => Self-administered - by mail and online – good when a list is available

14. CSLI: The Survey Process How do surveys work – whom to call? Two choices for telephone surveys: (1) Randomly select from listed phone numbers(2) Use computer generated “likely unlisted residential numbers within your target jurisdiction” CSLI’s lists of numbers are a 90/10 percent mix We start with over 10000 phone numbers!

15. CSLI: The Survey Process How do surveys work – our assumptions! What are we assuming in using telephone numbers? That everyone in our target universe is equally likely to have a landline phone and willing/able to answer a survey Is that a realistic assumption?

16. CSLI: The Survey Process How do surveys work - other sources of error… • What are other data collection challenges? • * Interviewer bias – training is vital! • * Non-attitudes • * Social desirability • * Unclear questions – good question writing is an art! • * Non-response bias – who is excluded?* Unequal representation of subgroups – minorities, members of small political parties • None of these is necessarily a fatal flaw, but should make us sensitive that there are more sources of error than just the statistical ‘margin of error’

17. CSLI: The Survey Process How do surveys work – after the interviews, then what? • Data entry - This means we need to enter all the answers into a database for statistical processing. • Statistical analysis • Write a summary of the results and send it out as a press release • Post it on the Web • Use the findings in public presentations

18. CSLI: Survey Findings – Fall 2007

19. CSLI: Survey Findings – Fall 2007 Percentage favoring an approach to dealing with state deficit

20. CSLI: Survey Findings – Fall 2007 “How familiar are you with the issue of global warming – very, somewhat or not very familiar?”

21. CSLI: Survey Findings – Fall 2007 “How familiar are you with the issue of global warming – very, somewhat or not very familiar?” by age, gender and education

22. CSLI: Survey Findings – Fall 2007 % Agreeing with ideas about global warming

23. CSLI: Survey Findings – Fall 2007 % Citing support for a position regarding the war in the Iraq

24. CSLI: Survey Findings – Fall 2007 % Citing support for a position regarding the war in the Iraq by party and ideology

25. CSLI: Survey Findings – Fall 2007 President Bush’s Job Approval Fall 2005 to Fall 2007

26. CSLI: Spring 2007 Findings Anne Arundel County Public Schools: Quality vs. Taxes

27. Thanks for listening! Any questions? You can find this presentation as well as the latest press releases at the CSLI Web site: www2.aacc.edu/csli