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Critical Issues in Undertaking Community Surveys
As communities in Wisconsin begin their planning processes, a big question is �Should we do a community survey?� and �How do we undertake a community survey?� This briefing will identify some critical issues that a plan commission or other group must consider. Those issues include:
It is often useful as well to consider a process that your organization can follow as you undertake a community survey. The figure2 below shows a generalized process. Each step is necessary for success.
Why Undertake a Community Survey? Community surveys can be useful to identify issues at the beginning stages of a planning process and/or to refine particular ideas or policies as a community begins to think about plan implementation tools. A community survey will allow your plan commission, citizen�s advisory committee or some other group to:
Establish Goals for the Survey The first step is determining the goals of the survey. Be prepared to answer the question, �What specifically are we going to do with the results even if we do not agree with public sentiments?� Establishing survey goals is an extremely important step to save time, money and headaches. Identify Stakeholders Stakeholders are affected by the issues addressed in the survey. For many development and land use issues, everyone in a community is a stakeholder. For other issues, specific stakeholders can be identified. Stakeholders should be included in planning the survey instrument and distributing the results. For example, if your survey includes questions related to education in the community, then someone from the school district should participate in the survey process. This kind of buy-in will assure that results are shared with the appropriate interest groups.4 Prepare a Survey Instrument You need to create a survey instrument that is most appropriate for your community and that is in a form that can be easily interpreted. By establishing goals and creating an appropriate survey, your group will make the most efficient use of resources, the survey results will provide meaningful information, and indicate which issues need further clarification or research. You do not need to prepare a survey from scratch, you can ask other communities for a copy of their survey. However, if you borrow a survey from another community, tailor or modify the survey to:
Who should we survey? Within the context of comprehensive planning, there is no definitive answer as to the appropriate group to survey. Generally a sample of a population is surveyed rather than an entire population. However, Portage County, for example, decided to send a survey to every household in the county. Sending the survey to everyone makes them feel included in the process and more likely to support plan objectives and policies. Lincoln County, in contrast, took two survey approaches: Towns surveyed all households and the County surveyed a sample of residents. In deciding who to survey, consider your survey goals, the size of your community and whether you want to follow a Lincoln or Portage County type of approach, and your budget. If you decide to sample a portion of the population, you need a representative sample of that population. One of the easiest ways to select a portion or subset of the population is to randomly select households from a list. Some of the more common lists that are used include: telephone directory (both paper and CD-ROM) and utility billing. How should we distribute a survey? You can distribute a survey by mail, deliver it in person, use the telephone or conduct face-to-face interviews. Choosing one method or another depends on how much time your group wants to spend, how much money you have allocated, and how many people you have available to work on it. Both Portage and Lincoln Counties sent their survey by mail. Generally if you decide to send a survey by mail, you need to include the survey, a cover letter that explains the goals of the survey and the importance of completing the survey, and a stamped return envelope. Mail surveys often get a lower response rate than the other methods, but it is often the least labor intensive. Some communities provide incentives for return of surveys by offering to send a copy of the survey results. How do we analyze the survey results? Once all of the responses are tabulated in a spreadsheet, you can begin to figure out what all that data means. Generally, communities report on frequencies for each question. Frequencies report how many persons (and what percent of respondents) responded a certain way to each question in the survey. This is the most basic output from surveys and is a step taken in every analysis. Frequencies are most useful for pointing to directions for further analysis.5 Cross tabulations compare subcategories of responses on a particular issue. You can compare how men and women, different age groups or income levels responded to any particular question. Writing up the results For the public to understand how everyone responded to a community survey, it is important to disseminate the results or findings of the survey. Survey results can be distributed as a report, in a newsletter, in a press release, fact sheets, in a public presentation, and/or on a website. At a minimum it is useful to describe the purpose of the survey (how the information will be used), how the data were collected, the response rate (how many households answered the survey), and what the key issues are. You can also include the major implications of these results. You should acknowledge any groups (stakeholders) that assisted in the survey process.6 To learn more: Laboratory
of Community and Economic Development (LCED) - Assessing and Developing:
Your Community Resources, University of Illinois � Extension,
http://www.ag.uiuc.edu/~lced/newsurvey2/ Utah State University Extension, Community Needs Assessment Survey Guide, http://extension.usu.edu/coop/comm/survey/survey.htm Weisel, Deborah. 1999. Conducting Community Surveys: A Practical Guide for Law Enforcement Agencies, U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics & Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. NCJ 178246
To get assistance with community
surveys: The University of Wisconsin Survey Center - http://www.wisc.edu/uwsc/ Institute for Survey and Policy Research - http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/ISPR/ Survey Center � St. Norbert College - http://www.snc.edu/survey/ UW - River Falls - Survey Research Center - Phone: 715-425-0701 Creative Research Systems, The Survey System, Sample Size Calculator - www.surveysystem.com/sscalc.htm 1 Weisel 1999:2.
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