Released: 1/5/2012
Author(s): Paul DiPerna
The "Idaho K-12 & School Choice Survey" project, commissioned by The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice and conducted by Braun Research Incorporated (BRI), measures Idaho registered voters' familiarity and views on a range of K-12 education issues and school choice reforms. We report response levels and differences (we use the term “net score” or “net”) of voter opinion, and the intensity of responses.
Where do the voters stand on important issues and policy proposals in K-12 education? We attempt to provide some observations and insights in the following pages of this paper.
A randomly selected and statistically representative sample of Idaho voters recently responded to 17 substantive questions and 11 demographic questions (see pages 47 – 77). The next section summarizes our key findings.
A total of 2,097 telephone interviews were conducted in English from October 22 to November 6, 2011, by means of both landline and cell phone. The statewide sample included 1,202 interviews, and regional oversamples included at least 500 interviews. Statistical results were weighted to correct known demographic discrepancies. The margin of sampling error for the statewide sample is ± 2.8 percentage points. Margin of error for each regional sample (Boise-Nampa, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho Falls) is ± 4.4 percentage points.
In this project we included two split-sample experiments. A split sample design is a systematic way of comparing the effects of two or more alternative wordings for a given question. The purpose is to see if particular wording, or providing a new piece of information, can significantly influence opinion on a given topic.
Our polling paper has four sections. The first section summarizes key findings. We call the second section “Survey Snapshots,” which offers charts illustrating the core findings of the survey. The third section describes the survey’s methodology, summarizes response statistics, and presents additional technical information on call dispositions for landline and cell phone interviews. The fourth section presents our questionnaire and results (“topline numbers”), essentially allowing the reader to follow the actual interview as it was conducted, with respect to question wording and ordering. We have set out to give a straight-forward analysis, going light on editorial commentary, and letting the numbers and charts communicate the major findings.
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