The surveys helped the DOT determine what attendees thought of ideas under discussion and present project issues in ways that engaged them. Surveys indicate preferences of segments of the population. In Utah the Wasatch Front Regional Council and the Utah Transit Authority conducted a survey of more than 2,000 individuals to determine transportation preferences for disabled persons. Santa Barbara, California, used a public opinion survey in conjunction with the update of its general plan to identify issues of particular concern to Hispanic and African-American business people and community leaders. Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, used a visual preference survey to determine physical aspects and patterns that residents preferred and to show how those values could be reflected in an overall plan for the area.
Surveys directly involve a relatively small population of a State or region.
For surveys with a randomized sample of the population, chosen in a statistically-valid way, the sample can be stratified to include only people within a specific geographic area, income group, or other category of people from whom information is desired. Although it never replicates the overall population precisely, it remains statistically valid. Respondents provide a composite view of the larger population. In a scientific, statistically-valid survey, answers are expanded to reflect what the population as a whole might have answered if they had all been asked the survey questions. Informal surveys can never be viewed as the basis for such an expansion.