WS - E - Conducting Community Surveys

Estimations can be made of the amount of time necessary to carry out a survey based on the desired sample size. The national CVS requires approximately 10 minutes to administer. This figure, of course, varies from one individual to the next while the Community Policing section will add approximately 5-10 minutes to the interview time. The number of surveys to be conducted will be determined through the sampling procedure (see above), guiding survey administrators in estimating the amount of staff necessary to conduct the survey. Estimates of the time to conduct a community survey should follow a formula which includes: The number of respondents/cases desired & e.g., 600 Estimation of refusal rates (30 percent of 12-city CVS) Estimates of eligible respondents (that is, ineligible numbers are screened out & perhaps around 60 percent) Total number of telephone numbers to be generated and called In this example seeking 600 respondents, 2400 numbers will be generated; 60 percent or 1,440 will be ineligible while 960 will be eligible; and 30 percent or 288 will refuse while 70 percent or 672 will agree to the interview. As general rule, based on the sample size for the 12-city field test of the CVS questions, telephone numbers should be generated for approximately four times the number of surveys desired. This ratio incorporates both ineligibles and refusals. Selection, training, and supervision The selection and training of interview staff and their supervision are critical to administering the survey. All interviewers should be well-supervised. Survey administration should be monitored on a random basis and quality control checks, such as making call-backs to respondents should be carried out to ensure the accuracy of interviews. Training of interviewers should be carried out to ensure that all surveys are conducted as similarly as possible. In general, interviewers should be thoroughly trained to be neutral, precise, and thorough in administering each survey. Training should also emphasize the confidential nature of information being collected. Interviewers should be aware that respondents may be suspicious of providing personal or sensitive information over the telephone particularly about their experience with victimization. Evidence with telephone surveys suggests that these surveys are typically less threatening to respondents than face-to-face surveys. Nonetheless, interviewers should fully brief prospective respondents about the purposes of the survey and the identity of the survey organization. Data management practices should be established to maintain the anonymity of the respondent and the confidentiality of all information collected through the interview. Conducting Community Surveys 17