July 23, 2007

CounterPoint – The NCRC Survey Team Speaks Up

By Gregory Robinson, Ph.D.

In the July 13 edition of CityWatch, Chris Weare of USC submitted some comments about the interim report prepared for the Neighborhood Council Review Commission by the CSU Fullerton Social Science Research Center. We’re always happy to receive feedback and especially to talk about this survey. We’re gratified that the commissioners and many members of the public have found our results useful as they contemplate NC system reforms.

Weare notes that our interim report included responses from only 218 current board members. From the outset, we defined our population of inference—the group to whom generalizations from survey data would be made—as current and former NC board members. Responses from 172 former board members were included in our interim report also, so our sample size at that time was actually 430. That was just enough to support an interim report, but far smaller than the sample that will be included in our final report.

Neighborhood councils are evolving structures. To understand them, it’s necessary to consider the voices of experience—the earlier board members. It’s quite interesting that on virtually every measure, current board members are more positive about the state of the system than former members.

Today, our survey sample includes 387 current and 318 former board members. Combined, this is over 700 survey responses, and we expect to exceed 800 before data collection ceases at the end of the month. As the survey sample has grown, the responses have remained within a fairly narrow range, suggesting that our interim report provided a reasonably accurate take on NC board members’ experiences and opinions.

In some areas, our results differ from those found in earlier USC surveys. Loyola Marymount University also did a survey, reporting its own results. No single survey investigating a complex topic like the Neighborhood Council system ever produces all the answers. Different surveys pose different questions and ask the same questions in different ways. Samples are selected and surveys are conducted using different methods. Our survey is distinguished by its emphasis on comparing the views of current and former board members. The resulting information converges and contrasts with earlier studies in a manner that enriches our collective knowledge. From our point of view, the more data, the better.

We asked a number of questions that other surveys did not, just as other surveys included questions that we did not. Our questionnaire was designed in collaboration with the NCRC commissioners, who reviewed the instrument carefully. We were less concerned with theoretical questions than with providing the Commissioners information to help them make the complex policy decisions they face. Our watchwords are “Applied Research in the Public Interest.” Success from our point of view lies in producing useful, actionable information.

Our final survey report will be released on August 10th in plenty of time to contribute to the Commission’s final deliberations. If you’d like an electronic copy of either the interim or final reports, please e-mail me at grobinson@fullerton.edu. And if you have any questions about our survey, I’d be delighted to answer them. (Dr. Gregory Robinson is the Director of the CSU Fullerton Social Science research Center.)

If you are a current or former board member, and haven’t yet completed the questionnaire, let’s get you into our sample! Visit http://www.ssrc-at-csuf.com to get started. You’ll find that you can complete the survey on the web, by telephone, or by filling out a hard copy in Spanish or English.