DOI: 10.7280/d1cc75
title: Annual Survey of Orange County 1983

description: The Orange County Annual Survey begins in 1982 to monitor the demographic,
 economic, and political character of Orange County and the changes in this
 character over time. Areas of primary concentration are housing, mobility,
 growth, transportation, public services, politics and government, and
 demographics. The survey of 1983 builds on its predecessor in each of
 these areas with a view toward the implications of current trends for the
 future of Orange County. The sample size is 1,003 Orange County adult
 residents.Online data analysis & additional documentation in Link
 below.
description: The sample for the 1983 Orange County Survey consists of 1,003 randomly
 selected residents who were interviewed by telephone. The sample is
 stratified geographically, with half of the sample selected from the north
 of the Santa Ana River and half from the south. For data analyses, the
 sample is statistically weighted to represent the actual distribution of
 the Orange County population. The sample in each area was chosen using a
 computer program, which randomly generates telephone numbers from among
 working blocks of telephone exchanges. A working block is one that
 contains numbers in use. The total of telephone numbers generated within
 an exchange was in proportion to the number of residential phones
 represented by that exchange in the northern part of the county or the
 southern part of the county. Using this procedure, approximately 1,800
 telephone numbers from the south and approximately 1,800 telephone numbers
 from the north were drawn. This procedure of random digit dialing ensures
 that unlisted as well as listed numbers are included in the sample. Also,
 since 95% of the households in Orange County have telephones, random
 dialing yields a sample representative of the population of Orange County.
 The Troldahl-Carter Method was used in randomly selecting which adult
 member of the household was to be interviewed. This method consists of
 enumerating the total number of adults in the household and the total
 number of men in the household. Then, using a prearranged grid, the
 interviewer selects the individual in the household for interviewing. As
 further evidence of the representativeness of the sample chosen by the
 above methods, characteristics of the sample were compared to
 characteristics of the total Orange County population using the 1980
 census. On the basis of age, income, sex, marital status, household size,
 and home ownership, the sample is representative of the population of
 Orange County. Characteristics of the 1982 Orange County Survey sample
 were also contrasted with the characteristics of the 1983 Orange County
 Survey sample. Marital status, ethnicity, age, sex, and education were
 closely comparable in the two surveys. The sampling error for this survey
 is plus or minus three percentage points. This means that if this survey
 were to be repeated on hundred times, in 95 out of the 100 times the
 answers obtained for a particular question would match those we obtained
 in this survey within three points. The sampling error for any particular
 sub-group would be greater. These calculations assume that the data were
 collected under ideal circumstances. Since there are a large number of
 practical problems in conducting social surveys, the actual sampling error
 for any particular result might be slightly larger. As noted above, the
 interviewing for the Orange County Survey was done by telephone. Cost
 considerations and methodological improvements have led to telephone
 surveys' increased adoption in the social sciences. In addition,
 several studies show similar quality in telephone and face-to-face
 interviews. Interviewers were closely supervised during the data
 collection. Interviewers participated in a two-hour training session on
 the Orange County Survey instrument. Supervisors were available during the
 telephone interviewing to answer questions of interviewers or respondents.
 The telephone system used also allowed supervisors to monitor interviews
 to correct for errors in administering the questionnaire.