Next week, many local citizens will receive a phone call from a polling firm asking questions regarding how they feel about life in Stillwater. Their answers will help determine the future of our community.
This Quality of Life survey is being sponsored by Vibrant Stillwater – a coalition of citizens and local leaders looking to improve the quality of life in Stillwater – and conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy, based in Washington, D.C.
Its questions are designed to collect feedback about the general well-being and happiness of Stillwater citizens. The survey shows how people are feeling about various aspects of life, including employment opportunities, economic growth, education, confidence in local government, and the environment.
“Before we begin the work of creating a more vibrant Stillwater we want to be sure we’re making decisions based on objective data and measurable facts, not just a few peoples’ opinions or wishful thinking. This survey will help us get an accurate picture of where the community is – it’s important to know our opportunities and challenges from a broad community perspective if we are going to create a shared vision of what we can become” said Jeremy Bale, Vibrant Stillwater Steering member.
Vibrant Stillwater chose a professional third party survey company Mason-Dixon to complete the survey. As a highly respected independent polling and communications firm. Mason-Dixon conducts Quality of Life surveys in communities across the country and is known for having a high degree of reliability. Through the use of proven standards and methodologies Mason-Dixon ensures accurate findings, and designs surveys with a tight focus so they don’t overwhelm people. This results in objective data that’s hard to “spin.”
Jeremy Bale says the Quality of Life survey will allow the coalition to take a tailored approach to building a vision by getting clarity around the problems citizens believe most need to be solved. This means the community is less likely to make costly mistakes. Because a good diagnosis also reveals the community’s bright spots, it gives citizens something to celebrate.
Finally, having some good metrics at the start of a process like this creates a baseline that Stillwater can use year after year to monitor progress. A dashboard will be created, from the survey, to help measure progress, it will be posted on a public website for the community to engage with and will highlight community needs and improvements.
Participants in the Quality of Life survey, which will start the week of September 13th, will be randomly selected from a list of registered voters and reached via a combination of land lines and cell phones. The sample will be designed to represent the demographics of the local population in terms of age, gender, income, and so forth. Results are expected by mid October and will be delivered to the community through virtual, in-person and digital opportunities.
Bale acknowledges that it surprises many people that this kind of survey is conducted over the phone rather than using a more high-tech method. However, Mason-Dixon has found that a phone call allows for more clarity and precision.
That said, he adds, “when your caller ID shows an unknown 405 number, the week of September 13th, please answer and be part of the change our community is asking for.” Voice messages are not left (it’s inefficient and costly) but several attempts will be made at different times of the day. Once contact is made, respondents will have the option to take the survey at that time, schedule a call-back, or call an 800 number at a time of their convenience.
“We are hoping for a high response rate so that future initiatives can be approached feeling confident that the community is behind the effort,” says Bale. “Citizen engagement is a crucial piece of any process hoping to increase the vibrancy of this place we choose to call home.”
To learn more about the Quality of Life survey, please visit www.vibrantstillwater.com.