Files
Download Full Text (1.2 MB)
Description
METHODOLOGY PUBLIC OUTLOOK SURVEY As part of Forecast LA’s unique approach to forecasting in the Los Angeles region, researchers at the Center for the Study of Los Angeles conduct an outlook survey at the beginning of each year. The LA Region Public Opinion Survey involved 20-minute telephone sessions with more than 2,400 adults living in Los Angeles County. Survey respondents were asked about quality-of-life perceptions, personal economic wellbeing, economic concerns, overall life satisfaction, and various civic issues. SAMPLING Since the primary purpose of this study was to gather representative input from adult residents within the Los Angeles region, an initial random digit dial (RDD) sample was employed. The RDD sample was drawn by determining the active phone exchanges (the first three numbers of a seven-digit phone number) and blocks with a given sampling area (in this case, by the zip codes that comprise the county). A random list of all active residential and cell phone numbers in the area was produced. This method included both listed and unlisted phone numbers. Listed samples were used to meet particular quotas for racial/ethnic categories and geographic location. The margin of error is ±3.0% for the entire sample of 2,425 residents. SCREENERS The protocol for this study involves asking potential respondents a series of questions, referred to as screeners, which were used to ensure that the person lived within the county and were at least 18 years old. The sample size was 1,225 residents from the city of Los Angeles and 1,200 residents from Los Angeles County who live outside the city of LA. The first quota was a random digit dialing of approximately 1,300 residents (with 30% cell phone). Upon completion of each wave, the remaining necessary quotas were determined, and the racial/ethnic and geographic quotas were employed: 400 African American residents, 400 Asian residents, as well as 400 residents from the San Fernando Valley (only within the city of Los Angeles) and 400 residents from the San Gabriel Valley. Given the demographic proportion of Latino and Caucasian residents in the region, both groups were expected to naturally fall out from the initial wave of 1,300 subjects. DATA COLLECTION Telephone interviews were conducted the first four full weeks in January 2016 and first two weeks in February between the hours of 4:30pm and 9pm during the week, 10am to 4pm on Saturday, and 10am to 5pm on Sunday. The survey was translated into Spanish, Mandarin, and Korean. Translators who spoke Spanish, Mandarin, and Korean were available to conduct interviews for residents who only spoke, or were more comfortable speaking any of those languages. REPORTING DATA The margin of error is ±3.0%. The 2,425 responses collected in 2016 for this survey are weighted based on respondents’ self-identified racial/ethnic group, gender, age, and geographic location matching them to the most recently available population parameters from the American Community Survey estimates. Datasets are available in Excel and Stata. All numbers represent percentages, unless otherwise indicated. Due to rounding, not all rows or columns total 100%. SURVEY APPROVAL Approval to begin survey administration was granted from the Institutional Review Board at Loyola Marymount University. SURVEY FUNDING Funding for this project comes from a variety of donors (including the university’s own internal funds). Donors are not involved in any aspect of project design and data dissemination. All Center funders are aware that their donations can be applied to any one of the numerous research projects the Center conducts. To find out more about the Center’s funders visit www.lmu.edu/studyLA.
Publication Date
2016
Recommended Citation for Data Brief
Olympics in LA: 2016 Los Angeles Public Opinion Survey Report. Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Center for the Study of Los Angeles, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, California.