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Purpose
Introduction This seventeenth report of the Orange County Annual Survey continues to track trends over time in the county's important social, economic and political issues. This year, we have a special focus on understanding the impacts of increasing urbanization and the changing demographics of Orange County. Here are the questions we seek to answer in the 1998 survey: 1. Is Orange County showing signs of losing its suburban character? Specifically, is it becoming more like its large urban neighbor to the north? How does Orange County compare with Los Angeles County in satisfaction with the local quality of life and ratings of local government? 2. How are the changing demographics in Orange County expressing themselves in today's economic, social and political trends? Specifically, how do the Latino and Asian populations compare with non-Hispanic whites in consumer confidence, charitable giving and political involvement? 3. Is there public support for building an international airport at the site of the closing El Toro Marine Corps Air Station? What would residents most prefer to do with the base and with John Wayne Airport? Do they approve of the county government's handling of this issue? 4. How do residents rate local public schools? What kinds of reforms are they likely to support? Do they favor increasing taxes for schools and lowering the threshold for passing school bonds? 5. What are the latest economic, social and political trends? What is the overall mood and what changes are evident in attitudes toward the economy, transportation, housing, charity and politics? In analyzing the 1998 survey, we compare the results with previous surveys. We examine differences in this year's responses by age, income, region, political party and other subgroups. We also contrast the Orange County results with survey findings from Los Angeles County, based on the 1998 Public Policy Institute of California Statewide Surveys on the Changing Political Landscape of California by Mark Baldassare. Methods The 1998 Orange County Annual Survey was co-directed by Mark Baldassare, professor at UCI and senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California, and Cheryl Katz, research associate. The random telephone survey included interviews with 2,002 Orange County adult residents conducted Sept. 1-13, 1998. We follow the methods used in the 16 previous surveys, with two exceptions. This year, we doubled the sample size of the Orange County Annual Survey, which is usually about 1,000 interviews, so that we could expand our analysis of the Latino and Asian populations. We also conducted interviews in Vietnamese as well as in English and Spanish. Interviewing was conducted on weekend days and weekday nights, using a computer-generated random sample of telephone numbers. Within a household, adult respondents were randomly chosen for interview. Each interview took an average of 20 minutes to complete. The interviewing was conducted in English, Spanish or Vietnamese, as needed. The completion rate was 74 percent. The telephone interviewing was conducted by Interviewing Services of America in Van Nuys, CA. The survey sample was compared with the U.S. Census and state figures by city for Orange County, and was found to represent the actual regional distribution of Orange County residents. The sample's demographic characteristics also were closely comparable to the census and other survey data, including previous Orange County Annual Surveys. The sampling error for this survey is +/- 2% at the 95% confidence level. This means that 95 times out of 100, the results will be within two percentage points of what they would be if all adults in Orange County were interviewed. The sampling error for any subgroup would be larger. Sampling error is just one type of error to which surveys are subject. Results may also be affected by question wording, ordering, and survey timing. Throughout the report, we refer to two geographic regions. North County includes Anaheim, Orange, Villa Park, La Habra, Brea, Buena Park, Fullerton, Placentia, Yorba Linda, La Palma, Cypress, Los Alamitos, Rossmoor, Seal Beach, Westminster, Midway City, Stanton, Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, Santa Ana, Garden Grove, Tustin, Tustin Foothills and Costa Mesa. South County includes Newport Beach, Irvine, Lake Forest, Aliso Viejo, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Mission Viejo, Portola Hills, Rancho Santa Margarita, Foothill Ranch, Coto de Caza, Trabuco Highlands, El Toro Station, Laguna Beach, Dana Point, San Clemente, Capistrano Beach and San Juan Capistrano. In the analysis of questions on the proposed El Toro airport, we include Newport Beach in North County. 1998 Steering Committee Hank Adler Lou Banas Stephen Burgard Peter Case Maria Chavez-Wilcox J. Robert Fluor II Regina Fodor Michael K. Garcia Paul Glaab Charles Haggerty Michael Hayde Janet Huston Roger Johnson George Kessinger Lisa Mills Jan Mittermeier Martha Newkirk Stan Oftelie Bill Ross Dave Ross Henry Segerstrom Reverend Monsignor Jaime Soto Thomas C. Sutton Cathy Taylor Larry Tenney Nelson Communications Larry Thomas Kathryn G. Thompson Bill Wood 1998 Advisory Committee Paul Freeman Michael Fried Robin Leftwich Mary MacIntyre Hamilton Tom Mathews Vicki Mathews Michelle Myszka Lisa Pitney Jeff Rocke Lisa Telles Martha Zajic
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