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December 7, 2001/Kislev 22, 5762, Vol. 54, No. 13
Demographic study group expands
BARRY COHEN
Editor
As preparations continue to implement the first demographic study of the Valley Jewish community since 1983, the committee is being expanded from a core of six members to a proposed 25-30 members.
"We're expanding the committee to have a broader cross section of the community," said Howard Cabot, chairman of the demographic study committee of the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix. He hopes more voices will fine-tune survey questions to accurately uncover the community profile and needs.
Fred Zeidman, federation assistant executive director, said the committee is being expanded to reflect the Valley's diverse geography, demography and levels of involvement.
Cabot believes the metropolitan Phoenix Jewish community has unique characteristics.
"We tend not to have the same depth of family connections as urban areas on the East Coast," he said. In contrast with Jewish neighborhoods common to East Coast communities, the Valley has "multiple clusters of Jews," separated in a "large, expansive metropolitan area."
Cabot also cited the challenge of determining whether Valley newcomers participate in Jewish community life to the same degree as they may have done in their previous homes.
The demographic committee was scheduled to meet Dec. 5 with representatives of Ukeles Associates, Inc., the national consulting group conducting the study, to review a draft questionnaire.
Zeidman said he expects phone interviews to begin in January.
The study will begin with "screening calls," said Jay Bycer, member of the demographic committee and retired Valley businessman who also worked on the federation's 1983 study.
He said the first calls will ask several questions to generate an "incidence level," projecting how many families in a geographic area are Jewish, said Bycer.
The next step is to ask representatives of identified Jewish households - generated in part by the screening calls and supplemented by names selected from the 22,000 households already known to the federation - to answer a comprehensive questionnaire, he said.
Bycer said it would be too costly to identify enough Jewish households through the screening process alone.
The $180,000 survey budget includes underwriting of $150,000 from Harold and Jean Grossman.
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