PRECA 09-01-1982 - Laserfiche WebLink

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i .., In April of 1982, the Citizen Study Committee of New Brighton and ~~ the City Manager, acting for the City Council, took steps to have a survey of New Brighton citizens conducted in order to obtain input regarding the quality and level of New Brighton City services. The results of the survey, reported in this document, were to be , used as an aid in preparing the 1983 fiscal budget. METHODS A student intern, Curt Holewa, had previously researched the use of citizen surveys by other local government entities, and it was determined that the .League of Women Voters and the New-Brighton Jaycees would be willing to conduct personal interviews to obtain citizen input. A consultant, Patricia McIlvenna, was hired to provide technical assistance in conducting the survey and analyzing the data., and a University Computer Center account was established so that the survey results could be computer analyzed. Given time constraints, it was decided that a questionnaire consisting mainly of closed-response questions would be used, but 'that it would be administered in person to increase the response rate. THE SAMPLE SIZE A sample of 350 was determined to be optimum given opposing con- • straints: Person -to-person contacts are labor intensive and it was desirable to set the sample size large enough to allow for ~~~ maximum precision in estimating population trends. With a sample size 400, one can be 95% sure that an obtained percent is at most 5% more or less .than the actual value; with a sample of size 280, one can be 90% certain that an obtained percent errs by at most 5% in either direction. By using a sample of 350, there is a good deal of certainty about the accuracy of findings regarding the entire sample. When look at findings about any sub-group, (e.g. those aged. 50 to 64 years), the accuracy of the findings is not as great. THE SAMPLE The sampling frame was established through the City of New Brighton water billings, stored on computer files according to address, and including house as well as apartment and mobile home dwellers. A computer program allowed for selection of every tenth listing, with the result being a list of approximately 700. This was then split in half, so that every other listing was an alternate respondent. The final sample consisted of 349 listings, randomly generated, and spread proportionately across the City, with 349 alternate listings matched to the others according to address. The one obvious draw- back to the process is that no name is available for citizen complex, apartment or mobile home dwellers. THE SURVEY The survey was designed by Curt Holewa, intern at the City of New .Brighton, and Patricia McIlvenna, consultant, with assistance from Jim Fornell, City Manager, and John Grau, Assistant Manager. The survey was designed to allow for the following: