Special Survey of Orange County 2003

Survey Methodology

The Orange County Survey is a special edition of the PPIC Statewide Survey, which is directed by Mark Baldassare, research 
director at the Public Policy Institute of California, with assistance in research and writing from Jon Cohen, survey research 
manager, and Renatta DeFever and Eliana Kaimowitz, survey research associates, and Cheryl Katz, who was the co-director of the 
Orange County Annual Survey at the University of California, Irvine.  The survey was conducted in collaboration with the 
School of Social Ecology at the University of California, Irvine; however, the survey methods, 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 1,004 Orange County adult residents interviewed from November 4 
to November 10, 2003.  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 (age 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 18 minutes to complete.  Interviewing was conducted in English or Spanish.  Schulman, Ronca & Bucuvalas, Inc. conducted the 
telephone interviewing.

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 1,004 adults 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 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 includes 71 percent of the county population and 
refers to cities and communities north of the 55 Freeway, including Anaheim, Anaheim Hills, Brea, Buena Park, Costa Mesa, 
Cypress, Fountain Valley, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, La Habra, La Palma, Los Alamitos, Midway City, Orange, 
Placentia, Rossmoor, Santa Ana, Seal Beach, Stanton, Sunset Beach, Tustin, Villa Park, Westminster, and Yorba Linda.  South 
County includes 29 percent of the county population and refers to cities and communities south of the 55 Freeway, including 
Aliso Viejo, Capistrano Beach, Corona del Mar, Coto de Caza, Dana Point, El Toro, Irvine, Laguna Beach, Laguna Hills, Laguna 
Niguel, Laguna Woods, Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, Modjeska, Newport Beach, Portola Hills, Rancho Santa Margarita, San 
Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, Trabuco, and Trabuco Canyon.  We present results for non-Hispanic whites (referred to in the 
tables and text as "whites") and Latinos because each group accounts for a substantial number of the county's adult 
population.  The sample sizes for the African American and Asian American subgroups are not large enough for separate 
statistical analysis.  We also contrast the opinions of registered Democrats and Republicans with those who are "independent" 
or decline to state.

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, including the Special Survey of Orange County in 2001 and 2002; 
the 1979 California Tax Revolt Study at the University of California, Berkeley; and national surveys conducted by Newsweek 
(November 2003), CNN/USA Today/Gallup, ABC News/Washington Post, and the Index of Consumer Sentiment, Surveys of Consumer 
Attitudes, Survey Research Center, University of Michigan (October 2003).