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WestTrack Findings
by Ted Apostol
Arizonans Support New Governor's Agenda:
In our December WestTrack study we found, Arizonans want Governor Janet Napolitano to direct her attention on education reform and balancing the budget, as she begins her term of office. Those were the findings of an independent study we conducted. The survey took place in December as part of WestGroup's ongoing monitor of current events.
Out of 402 respondents in the December survey, 252 (63%) had suggestions for the Governor. Of these, 32% suggested Governor Napolitano reform education first and 26% want her to balance the budget first.
Among respondents in the 30-to-49 age group, 47% of those with an opinion advised education reform. This response was also strong among households earning more than $55,000 annually - 42%.
On the other hand, adults over the age of 50 were more likely to advise balancing the budget first - 36% of those with an opinion.
There were no significant differences by party affiliation or geographic area of the state.
Question: If you were able to give advice to Governor-elect Janet Napolitano, what would you suggest that she accomplish first when she takes office next year?
How receptive are people to being called to do a research study?
We have kept a watchful eye on how receptive people are to participating in telephone research studies. We are particularly interested in study refusal rates, the impact of telephone technologies, and the intrusiveness of telephone selling. In October, we added some questions to WestTrack's statewide sample. Here are a few answers based on 400 completed interviews... (plus or minus 5% at 95% confidence)
We routinely find about 60% of the people we talk to decline to participate in telephone surveys. When we asked WestTrack respondents, 63% said they had declined at least once in the past six months. Our WestTrack sample accurately reflects what we are finding when we dial, supporting the conclusion that participants really do represent the total population.
More than two-thirds (68%) of our respondents have telephone answering machines and 38% of them use their machines to screen calls. Apparently a lot of call-screeners are willing to participate in telephone research.
The majority of respondents (57%) have cell phones. Of these 92% say it would be inappropriate for a telephone researcher to call them on their cell phones. (Which of course we never do.)
Twenty-seven percent (27%) of our respondents have unlisted telephone numbers. That's one reason random digit-dialing is important in sampling.
Telephone sales calls outnumber research calls more than 7 to 1. On the
average, people believe they get 567 telephone sales calls compared to
only 78 telephone research calls annually. I think if we could somehow
limit the number of telephone sales calls people would be a lot more friendly
when they pick up the phone.
