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<br />information. The City Council, then, has been able to target its <br />efforts in providing the residents with correct and unbiased <br />information to aid in their decision-making processes. Too <br />often, we have found after a referendum has been defeated that <br />citizens took their opposition stances based on totally unfounded <br />and incorrect hearsay; identifying those misunderstandings and <br />falsehoods early can correct this situation and help the City in <br />effectively providing public information. <br /> <br />Usually DRL is retained to conduct a detailed random sample <br />survey of residents, to seek opinions on current city services, <br />policies, future problems, and changing demographics of the <br />population. We recommend this method because it is the only way <br />to assure a statistically sound representation of city-wide <br />views. The questionnaire is assembled during a series of <br />meetings with city officials and staff. We work very closely <br />with city personnel to assure that the research questions they <br />have are fully and accurately answered by the survey. After <br />telephone interviewing by our trained and supervised phoners, the <br />company prepares a final written report which assesses the <br />current state of opinion in the city and prospects for the <br />future. We Blso verbally present the highlights of the findings <br />to a group specified by the client ~nd will work with city <br />officials and staff until they are comfortable with the data and <br />its implications. <br /> <br />DRL prides itself on the amount of individualized attention we <br />provide clients. As part of our contractual arrangements for any <br />study, we are available for both workshop sessions and <br />presentations thereafter. Naturally, as questions arise, <br />telephone aid will be provided on an on-going basis. We do not <br />believe in dropping the data off, collecting our fee, and dis- <br />appearing! If survey research is to be successful, the imple- <br />mentation of the of the findings is just as important as the <br />methodological quality. <br /> <br />The cost of our services is driven by two factors: the size of <br />the sample of residents contacted and the length of the <br />questionnaire. We strongly recommend a sample size of 400 <br />randomly selected households. This sample size permits <br />generalization to the entire city population within ~ 5.0 percent <br />in 95 cases out of 100. It also allows the segmentation of the <br />city into zones and breakdowns of households by occupation, <br />income, age, longevity in the community, and so forth. The basic <br />questionnaire is composed of sixty (60) question "units." This <br />length is usually adequate to explore attitudes about city <br />services and the quality of life and also examine one policy <br />issue in some detail. The cost of a 400 sample, 60 question unit <br />study is $4800.00. Each additional question unit is $60.00. Our <br />recent city clients have developed questionnaire ranging from <br />sixty question units to 110 question units. <br /> <br />I hope this kit contains the information you need. If there is <br />anything else we can provide, please do not hesitate to contact <br />either Diane Traxler or me. We would be most interested in <br /> <br />3' <br />