ORANGE COUNTY ANNUAL SURVEY 1996

Survey Methodology

The Orange County Annual Survey, UCI, was co-directed by Mark Baldassare, professor and chair of urban 
and regional planning, and Cheryl Katz, research associate. The random telephone survey included 
interviews with 1,000 Orange County adult residents co nducted August 30 to September 8, 1996. We follow 
the methods used in the 14 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 included 96 questions and took an avera ge of 20 minutes to complete. The interviewing was 
conducted in English and Spanish, as needed. The completion rate for the survey was 68 percent. This rate 
is consistent with earlier Orange County Annual Surveys. The field work was conducted by Interview ing 
Services of America in Van Nuys, CA. 

The survey sample was compared to 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 were also closely comparable to the Census and other survey data, including the previous 
Orange County Annual Surveys.

The sampling error for this survey is +/- 3 percent at the 95 percent 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 samplin g 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.