FAQs • Erie, CO • CivicEngage

Can we rely on the results of the survey?: Yes. The Town of Erie Community Survey is a scientific survey conducted by the National Research Center (NRC). NRC has over 20 years conducting survey research for local governments and literally wrote the book on citizen surveying. The survey has a statistically valid margin of error of +/- 3%. With this margin of error, you may conclude that when 60% of survey respondents report that a particular service is “excellent” or “good” somewhere between 57% and 63% of all Erie residents are likely to feel the same way.

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Community Survey

1. How did you get my address?: The National Research Center is contracted with the Town of Erie to conduct this survey. Your address was sampled at random from a list of all addresses from the post office. This is a standard service offered by the post office. It is not a Town of Erie government file and no household member is named in the file.

2. What is the purpose of requesting the person who most recently had a birthday complete the survey?: We have randomly selected households within our jurisdiction to receive the survey. We would also like to choose in an unbiased way a person within each household to complete the survey. This way we ensure the results are representative of our community as a whole. While it may seem a bit strange, using the “birthday method” is a simple way to select an adult from within each household without permitting bias in our results.

3. The person in my household who most recently had a birthday, is not very informed about the issues covered in the survey. Can someone else in my household who is more informed take the survey.: We would prefer that the person in your household who most recently had a birthday complete the survey. The “birthday method” described in the letter creates the most representative sample of our jurisdiction. You’ll be surprised at how much you can contribute.

4. I received your survey, and while I own the property that it was sent to, I don’t live there. What should I do?: The resident of the property should complete the survey.

5. I live outside of the Town of Erie. Should I complete the survey?: No. Please discard the survey. Unfortunately, the mailing lists provided by the post office do not exactly match municipal boundaries, and some addresses outside our boundaries were included. You may receive one or two other mailings associated with this project. Please discard those as well. You will not receive any other mailings after that from us.

6. I doubt that you are interested in my opinion, since I rarely leave my home. Should I really complete the survey?: Yes, the Town of Erie government is here to serve all residents, and it is important to us that we get results from a complete cross-section of our residents.

7. Why did you send each household 2 surveys?: It is an industry best management practice that multiple contacts increases the response rates. Each household will receive a postcard announcement telling you to watch for a paper survey, a survey packet and a reminder packet.

8. If I filled out the survey when I first received it, should I fill it out again now that I have received a second copy?: No, please don’t fill it out again. Since we only want one response from each person, those who already sent in a survey should not return another one. The second copy is distributed only as a reminder to complete and return your survey. Thank you for completing the first survey.

9. I was not sent a survey, but I would be happy to complete one, and I think you should be interested in my opinion.: An opt-in online survey will be available on the Town’s website to all residents. If your household did not receive a survey in the mail, you are encouraged to participate in the online survey.

10. Can we rely on the results of the survey?: Yes. The Town of Erie Community Survey is a scientific survey conducted by the National Research Center (NRC). NRC has over 20 years conducting survey research for local governments and literally wrote the book on citizen surveying. The survey has a statistically valid margin of error of +/- 3%. With this margin of error, you may conclude that when 60% of survey respondents report that a particular service is “excellent” or “good” somewhere between 57% and 63% of all Erie residents are likely to feel the same way.

Information obtained through the survey will assist the Town of Erie Board of Trustees and Town staff with: