WS - E - Conducting Community Surveys

Tailoring the survey to fit your needs The goals of the survey will affect the kinds of questions which the police agency will want included in the survey. The basic survey questionnaire & either the CVS portion or the community policing section & can be modified to fit different police objectives. Some questions may be deleted or altered, while additional questions may be added. The technical guide that accompanies the CVS software includes directions for carrying out these modifications. Modifying the level of analysis One modification which may be desired by local jurisdictions is to alter the level of analysis. The CVS survey is designed to collect information about a city. The survey currently does not contain area-level information smaller than a city. While city-level information is certainly easiest to collect, there is no reason why the level of analysis cannot be changed. However, if police wish to collect and analyze information about smaller areas within the city, such as neighborhoods or other geographic areas, typically a larger sample must be surveyed. Sample size is discussed inlater in this guide. Since many police agencies are interested in differences in crime and victimization in specific areas within their city, agencies may wish to add a question identifying the respondent’s area within the city. Addresses are requested in the survey or respondents may also be asked to identify their zip code, neighborhood by name, region or quadrant of the city (linking the survey to a GIS may facilitate data collection by neighborhood). Police agencies may want to collect information only from specific neighborhoods rather than undertaking a city-wide survey. If information about geographic areas for telephone prefixes is available, a sampling frame may be constructed making use of this knowledge. Sample size will vary accordingly. Alternatively, interviewers may screen calls to identify only respondents who live in certain portions of the city. This task would be time consuming. Modifications to reflect local conditions Other modifications to the survey will reflect differences in jurisdictions across the nation. On occasion, these differences may consist of wording or particular localized conditions. For example, the survey asks respondents about steps they have taken to prevent crime in the home. In warm areas of the country where windows and doors may be left open, simply keeping doors and windows shut may be a deterrent to crime. While the survey asks if the respondent has taken other precautions, the current survey questions and responses should be carefully evaluated to ensure they reflect local conditions and objectives. The local crime and public safety scenario in cities varies based on a variety of conditions. For example, crime varies by housing stock since high rises feature different problems than single-family residences; crime varies by the presence of alleys or other Conducting Community Surveys 9