UCI

1999 Orange County Annual Survey
University of California, Irvine

Home
Executive Summary
About the Survey
Survey Questions
News Releases

Overall Mood
The Economy
Quality of Life
Real Estate Market
The Future
Consumer Confidence

Public Policy Issues
Most Important Problems
Public Schools
Transportation
Housing
El Toro Airport

Civic and Political Life
Federal Government
Local Government
Civic Involvement
Local News Interest
Political Interest

University of California, Irvine
© 1999 UC Regents

PURPOSE
  1. Provide decision-makers in the private and public sectors with valid and current information on Orange County adult residents.
  2. Track shifts in important attitudes and population characteristics over time.
  3. Study the social, economic and political issues of Orange County from a non-advocacy position.
  4. Help establish public discussion and enlightened debate in furthering public policy.

INTRODUCTION

This eighteenth report of the Orange County Annual Survey, UCI, continues to monitor social, economic and political trends. The 1999 survey was conducted September 1-13, and included random telephone interviews with 1,000 Orange County adults in English and Spanish. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3% at the 95% confidence level for the total sample.

SURVEY METHODOLOGY

The 1999 Orange County Annual Survey was directed by Mark Baldassare, professor and Roger W. and Janice M. Johnson Chair in Civic Governance and Public Management at UCI, and Senior Fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California. Cheryl Katz, research associate, was co-director. The random telephone survey included interviews with 1,000 Orange County adult residents conducted September 1 to September 13, 1999. We follow the methods used in the 17 previous surveys.

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 and Spanish as needed. The completion rate was 65%. Telephone interviewing was conducted by Interviewing Services of America in Van Nuys, CA. The sample's demographic characteristics were comparable to data from the U.S. Census, California Department of Finance, and previous Orange County Annual Surveys.

The sampling error for this survey is +/- 3% at the 95% confidence level. This means that 95 times out of 100, the results will be within 3 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 factors such as question wording, ordering, and survey timing.

Throughout the report, we refer to two geographic regions. North refers to cities and communities north of the 55 Freeway, including 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 refers to cities and communities south of the 55 Freeway, including Newport Beach, Irvine, Lake Forest, Newport Coast, Aliso Viejo, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Woods, Mission Viejo, Portola Hills, Rancho Santa Margarita, Foothill Ranch, Coto de Caza, Trabuco, 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 the North County.

Some of the questions in this survey are repeated from national surveys conducted by the University of Michigan, the Pew Research Center and the American Association of Retired Persons. Questions with state comparisons are repeated from the Public Policy Institute of California's Statewide Surveys, directed by Mark Baldassare.

1999 ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Hank Adler
Deloitte & Touche

Lou Banas
GTE

Stephen Burgard
Los Angeles Times Orange County Edition

Peter Case
Merrill Lynch

Maria Chavez-Wilcox
United Way of Orange County

Michael Fried
Orange County Register

Janet Huston
Orange County Division of
League of California Cities

Roger Johnson
Roger Johnson and Associates

George Kessinger
Goodwill Industries of Orange County

Robin Leftwich
Orange County Transportation Authority

Tom Mathews
County of Orange

Vicki Mathews
John Wayne Airport

Lisa Mills
Orange County Transportation Authority

Jan Mittermeier
County of Orange

Michelle Myszka
Pacific Life Foundation

Stan Oftelie
Orange County Business Council

Lisa Pitney
Disneyland

Jeff Rocke
Kaiser Permanente

Dave Ross
ADMARI.COM

Henry Segerstrom
C. J. Segerstrom and Sons

Reverend Monsignor Jaime Soto
Diocese of Orange

Mike Stockstill
Transportation Corridor Agencies

Thomas C. Sutton
Pacific Life

Cathy Taylor
Orange County Register

Larry Tenney
Nelson Communications

Larry Thomas
The Irvine Company

Bill Wood
PacifiCare Health Systems


Survey conducted by
Mark Baldassare
and Cheryl Katz
Department of Urban and Regional Planning
School of Social Ecology