1

National Research Center, Inc. 2

A turnkey citizen survey service offered by theA turnkey citizen survey service offered by the INTERNATIONAL CITY/COUNTY MANAGEMENT INTERNATIONAL CITY/COUNTY MANAGEMENT

ASSOCIATIONASSOCIATION and and

NATIONAL RESEARCH CENTER, INC.NATIONAL RESEARCH CENTER, INC.

National Research Center, Inc. 3

What is What is The National Citizen SurveyThe National Citizen SurveyTMTM??

The NCSTM is a…Cost effective system for conducting comprehensive surveys of local residents

Customizable survey with core questions important to your community

Benchmarking tool that allows comparison among communities

National Research Center, Inc. 4

What are the purposes of What are the purposes of The NCSThe NCSTMTM??

Monitor trends in resident opinion

Measure government performance

Assess support for local policies

Inform budget, land use, strategic planning decisions

Communicate with residents

Benchmark service ratings

National Research Center, Inc. 5

What kinds of questions does What kinds of questions does The NCSThe NCSTM TM ask ask??

Quality of life in the community

Quality of local government services

Resident participation in local activities

Policy options

Community demographics

National Research Center, Inc. 6

What is included in What is included in The NCS™ service? The NCS™ service?

Customized questionnaire with community logo and local signatures

Scientific selection of 1,200 residents

Postcard followed by two survey mailings

Data processing

Data analysis

Final report

Normative comparisons from across the U.S.

National Research Center, Inc. 7

Why is the survey conducted Why is the survey conducted by mail?by mail?

Response rates are better than phone response rates

Residents are not bothered by phone calls

More residents are included at a lower cost

The margin of error is about +/-5% for the 400 returns expected

National Research Center, Inc. 8

How do you assure that How do you assure that survey respondents represent survey respondents represent

the community?the community?Random selection of householdsUnbiased selection of one member within each targeted householdMultiple mailings reminding each targeted household to participateEasy response (self addressed postage-paid)Statistical reweighting of sample so that survey demographics reflect the most recent Census

National Research Center, Inc. 9

What kind of customization is What kind of customization is possible?possible?

Choose core services from a list of more than 40 servicesCreate a subset of questions specific to jurisdictionDesign an open-ended questionIncrease sample sizeAdd Spanish versionCompare results to your results from prior yearsCompare data to results in other local governmentsCross-tabulate responses to survey questions by respondent demographics

National Research Center, Inc. 10

What do the final reports look What do the final reports look like?like?

National Research Center, Inc. 11

Do you have some examples Do you have some examples of survey questions?of survey questions?

How do you rate the quality of each of the following services in the XYZ of ABC?don’t

excellent good fair poor know

Public information services

Ambulance/Emergency Medical Services

In the last 12 months, about how many times, if ever, have you or your household members done the following things in the XYZ of ABC?

moreonce or 3 to 12 13 to 26 than 26

never twice times times times

Visited a neighborhood or XYZ of ABC park Volunteered your time to some group/activity

in ABC

National Research Center, Inc. 12

What comparison data does What comparison data does The NCSThe NCSTM offer? offer?

Data on trends in resident opinion across the U.S. comes from

300 jurisdictions’ survey results Over 100,000 respondents representing

more than 30,000,000 Americans Cities, counties, townships and villages

National Research Center, Inc. 13

What are my options?What are my options?

Purchase the Basic Service for $8,200

Select additional services, including:

Administration of survey in Spanish and English

A sample size of 3,000 residents

Breakdown of results by respondent characteristics

Customized norms

Comparisons of results to your prior survey

Inclusion of an open-ended question

National Research Center, Inc. 14

How is the validity of the How is the validity of the survey authenticated?survey authenticated?

In the final report, we provide an elaborate description of our meticulous survey methods.

We also provide a certificate of participation, suitable for display, signed by the executive director of ICMA and the president of NRC, to all jurisdictions that successfully complete the survey project.

National Research Center, Inc. 15

Who is conducting Who is conducting The NCSThe NCSTMTM??

ICMA, the International City/County Management Association

Professional association for local government managers founded in 1914

with

NRC, National Research Center, Inc. Survey research firm whose principals wrote Citizen Surveys, How to do them, how to use them, what they mean, for ICMA