|
|
February 22, 2002/Adar 10, 5762, Vol. 54, No. 23
Population study moves forward
BARRY COHEN
Editor
The Valley's first demographic study in more than 18 years is in full swing.
From mid-January through the beginning of April, more than 50,000 phone calls are being made to complete 775 surveys to estimate the Valley's Jewish population, said Ron Miller, Director of Research with Ukeles Associates, Inc., the company overseeing the study.
Miller said the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix has information concerning only a portion of the Valley's Jews. As a result, the majority of the study's resources will be devoted to gather raw data about the unknown Jewish households; information received will remain confidential.
Representatives from International Communication Research Media of Pennsylvania are conducting 22-26 minute interviews, said Fred Zeidman, assistant executive director of the federation.
The goal is not only to find out where the community lives, but to find out more about the character and needs of the community, said Zeidman. "We also want to know how Jews perceive the Jewish community and their place in it," he added.
ICR will implement a combination of techniques to estimate the number and nature of Jews in the metropolitan area. The company is using the federation's list of 17,000 known Jewish households to complete 525 surveys, plus random digit dialing - computer randomly generated phone numbers -to complete an additional 250, said Zeidman.
The reason more of the surveys will be based upon the federation list is because of the high cost of random digit dialing, Miller said. Many computer-generated numbers do not exist, and the majority of households will not be Jewish.
Residents throughout the Valley will be included in the study, Miller said. "If the household is identified as Jewish, then (ICR) will attempt to complete the interview," he said. There will be a total of eight callbacks until contact is made.
"Cooperation rates" - the percentage of Jewish households that complete the survey - vary, noted Miller.
Households on the federation list will have a cooperation rate of 80-90 percent, he predicted. Those reached by random digit dialing, including "people who deliberately move to an area that is not necessarily Jewish ... are typically less interested in completing the survey," he explained.
Zeidman said ICR representatives will try to make the interview process as smooth as possible.
"If it is not a convenient time, they will set up another time to call back. If it takes longer than thought, they will try to schedule a time to wrap it up," he explained.
To determine an estimate of the size and nature of the Valley's Jewish population, survey results from the federation list and random digit dialing will be "weighted and balanced by proportion of the population," said Miller.
For example, if the survey determines that 25-30 percent of the Jews in the Valley are on the federation list, then the 525 surveys culled from the list will be adjusted statistically to reflect that percentage.
For more information, call 602-274-1800, ext. 156.
|
