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Survey Methodology
The Orange County Survey is a special edition of the
PPIC Statewide Survey, which is directed by Mark Baldassare, a senior
fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California, with research assistance
from Lisa Cole and Eric McGhee. The survey was conducted in collaboration
with the School of Social Ecology at the University of California, Irvine;
however, the survey methodology and questions and the content of this
report were solely determined by Mark Baldassare.
The findings of this survey are based on a telephone survey of 2,004
Orange County adult residents interviewed from August 20 to August 31,
2001. Interviewing took place on weekend days and weekday nights, using
a computer-generated random sample of telephone numbers, ensuring that
both listed and unlisted telephone numbers were called. All telephone
exchanges in Orange County were eligible for calling. Telephone numbers
in the survey sample were called up to five times to increase the likelihood
of reaching eligible households. Once a household was reached, an adult
respondent (18 or older) was randomly chosen for interviewing by using
the "last birthday method" to avoid biases in age and gender.
Each interview took an average of 20 minutes to complete. Interviewing
was conducted in English or Spanish.
We used recent U.S. Census and state figures to compare the demographic
characteristics of the survey sample with characteristics of Orange
County's adult population. The survey sample was closely comparable
to the census and state figures. The survey data in this report were
statistically weighted to account for any demographic differences.
The sampling error for the total sample of 2,004 adults is +/- 2 percent
at the 95 percent confidence level. This means that 95 times out of
100, the results will be within 2 percentage points of what they would
be if all Orange County adults were interviewed. The sampling error
for subgroups is 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, question order, and survey timing. Throughout the
report, we refer to two geographic regions. North County 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 County
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.
We also present results for non-Hispanic whites (referred to in the
tables as "whites"), Latinos, and Asians because each group
accounts for a substantial number of the county's adult population.
We also contrast the opinions of Democrats and Republicans with "other"
or "independent" registered voters. This third category includes
those who are registered to vote as "decline to state" as
well as a fewer number who say they are members of other political parties.
In some cases, we compare the Orange County Survey responses to responses
in the 1982-2000 Orange County Annual Surveys at the University of California,
Irvine, the PPIC Statewide Surveys, and national surveys by the University
of Michigan and CBS/New York Times.
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