Each year the Gallup Poll conducts the "Public Attitudes Toward the Public Schools" survey, funded by Phi Delta Kappa. The survey includes interviews with adults representing the civilian noninstitutional population 18 years old and over.
Gallup uses an unclustered, directory-assisted, random-digit telephone sample, based on a proportionate stratified sampling design. In 2000, the final sample was weighted so that the distribution corresponded with the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS) estimates for adult population living in households with telephones in the continental United States. The sample used in the 36th annual survey was made up of a total of 1,003 adults aged 18 and over. Field work for the survey was conducted between May 28th and June 18th of 2004.
The survey is a sample survey and is subject to sampling error. The size of error depends largely on the number of respondents providing data. Appendix table A-4 shows the approximate sampling errors associated with different percentages and sample sizes for the survey. Appendix table A-5 provides approximate sampling errors for comparisons of two sample percentages.
For example, an estimated percentage of about 10 percent based on the responses of 1,000 sample members maintains an approximate sampling error of 2 percent at the 95 percent confidence level. The sampling error for the difference in 2 percentages (50 percent versus 41 percent) based on 2 samples of 750 members and 400 members, respectively, is about 8 percent at the 95 percent confidence level.
Further information on the "Public Attitudes Toward the Public Schools" survey may be obtained from:
Bruce Smith
Phi Delta Kappa
P.O. Box 789
Bloomington, IN 47402-0789
bsmith@pdkintl.org
http://www.pdkintl.org/
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