ORANGE COUNTY ANNUAL SURVEY 1998

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.