Survey Results: Installment 1

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Author Message   Dave Moderator Username: Dave Post Number: 4855 Registered: 4-1998 Posted on Saturday, January 1, 2005 - 11:47 pm:        Survey's baseline results. Numbers indicate percentages (descending order). Base number of respondents per question varies from 308 to 340. Where do you live? Maplewood 62 South Orange 26 More than 20 miles away 6 Within 5 miles of SO/M 4 Within 20 miles of SO/M 3 How long have you lived in the town you now reside in? 3-5 years 22 6-10 years 21 11-20 years 21 More than 20 years 17 1-2 years 11 Less than 1 year 8 How often do you read the message board on Maplewood Online? Daily 57 A few times a week 23 Weekly 8 A few times a month 7 Rarely 4 Never 1 Which sections of the message board do you enjoy most? Multiple responses Soapbox 18 Please Help 16 Arts & Entertainment 15 Home Fixit 13 Virtual Cafe 13 Education 10 Political Soapbox 9 Reading Room 2 Sports Section 2 Recipes 2 Work 1 Finance 0 Do you receive the weekly MOL E-mailer? No 64 (link to sign up is on the right side of MOL's home page) Yes 35 Don't know 1 Do you have a username for the message board? Yes 80 No 20 For the following statements about MOL, please rate whether you agree or disagree on a scale of 1 (disagree) - 5 (agree) disagree smwt dis no opin smwt agr agree I sometimes feel overwhelmedby the volume of posts on MOL 30 23 21 20 6 Anonymous posting detracts from having a real conversation 27 23 20 17 13 The moderators don't spend enough time policing negativity 25 20 32 16 8 MOL is a source of misinformation because it lacks and editorial function 23 29 22 19 7 MOL is representative of the community 15 24 21 31 10 I have changed my opinion on an issue after reading opinions on MOL 14 17 23 36 10 People should read MOL before shopping locally 5 11 34 36 14 Elected officials who answer questions online are viewed favorably 5 6 22 33 33 MOL provides better coverage of local issues than the local paper 4 7 21 30 39 MOL has helped me find useful information 1 1 3 19 76 Online recommendations about businesses have been fairly accurate 1 3 23 34 39 :: more tomorrow ::   Dave Moderator Username: Dave Post Number: 4858 Registered: 4-1998 Posted on Sunday, January 2, 2005 - 3:28 pm:        How often do you shop in your hometown for anything? Weekly 56. Almost every day 25. Every day 11. Rarely 7. Never 1. What types of products or services do you purchase in Maplewood/South Orange? Dining/entertainment 18. Groceries 16. Dry cleaning/tailoring 15. Banking/financial services 14. Auto services 9. Flowers 7. Games/toys/hobbies 7. Stationery/office supplies 6. Home decorations / art 5. Clothing 2. Fitness 1. About how much do you spend dining out in an average month? $101-300 54. Less than $100 19. $301-499 19. $500-999 7. $1000+ 2. Have you attended cultural events produced by any of the following groups? The Strollers 35. What Exit? Theatre 28. Underground Concerts 20. Music for Kids 14. Dreamcatcher Theatre 3. What is the largest challenge facing your community? Property taxes 62. Quality of education 20. Other 6. Racial integration 4. Open space / overdevelopment 4. Crime 4. Corzine v. Codey head to head Don't know/ too early to tell 60. Corzine 22. Codey 18. For the following public figures, please indicate whether you have a negative, neutral or positive opinion of them. negative neutral positive DK/ref President George W. Bush 76 6 19 0 Vice President Dick Cheney 74 10 16 0 US Senator Hillary Clinton 24 27 48 1 NY Mayor Michael Bloomberg 14 45 41 0 US Senator Frank Lautenberg 12 43 38 8 US Senator Jon Corzine 9 32 53 6 NJ Governor Richard Codey 3 45 44 9 The following table is filtered to count only South Orange residents For the following local public figures, please indicate whether you have a negative, neutral or positive opinion of them negative neutral positive DK/ref Mary Theroux 64 10 6 20 Bill Calabrese 52 24 10 14 Stephen Steglitz 38 23 8 30 Arthur Taylor 25 33 8 34 Shelley Stile 23 25 12 41 Allan Rosen 15 41 21 20 Patrick Joyce 7 21 42 29 Mark Rosner 6 28 60 7 The following table is filtered to count only Maplewood residents For the following local public figures, please indicate whether you have a negative, neutral or positive opinion of them negative neutral positive DK/ref Vic DeLuca 21 30 37 11 Kathy Leventhal 17 49 15 19 Fred Profeta 15 27 52 6 David Huemer 13 26 52 9 Ken Pettis 9 47 28 16 Ian Grodman 8 52 14 26 Are you a Republican, Democrat, Green, Libertarian, Independent, or other? Democrat 59. Independent 18. Republican 15. Other 6. Green 2. Libertarian 1. Overall politically, how do you define yourself? Somewhat liberal 39. Liberal 35. Somewhat conservative 18. Conservative 8. Multiple responses allowed in following question Which of the following do you read? NY Times 26. Star-Ledger 21. News-Record 19. Matters Magazine 16. NY Post 7. Wall Street Journal 7. NY Daily News 5. Your race White 93. Black/African American 3. Asian 2. Mixed 2. Hispanic 1. Native American 0. Sex Female 56. Male 44. Your age 35-44 42. 45-54 29. 25-34 16. 55-64 8. 65-74 3. 18-24 2. < 18 0. Over 75 0.   Joan Supporter Username: Joancrystal Post Number: 4642 Registered: 5-2001 Posted on Sunday, January 2, 2005 - 4:51 pm:        Mark Rosner's numbers, when compared with the other SO trustees are amazing. Does this just because the poll was limited to MOL readers and Mark plays such an active roll on MOL or is there more to it? These approval numbers seem to contradict the current assumption among many Maplewood elected officials that posting regularly on MOL is detrimental to one's political health.   Duncan Supporter Username: Duncanrogers Post Number: 3725 Registered: 12-2001 Posted on Sunday, January 2, 2005 - 5:23 pm:        Joan, I would guess that MOL name recognition and manners count for something in Mark's numbers. He has reached out to me on an issue of import to me and my business and I don't even live is South Orange. He is an active participant. That is not to say that the others are somehow less engaged in the local political debate, just that Mr. Rosner spends some time addressing specific issues as raised by individual posters.   ajc Citizen Username: Ajc Post Number: 3372 Registered: 9-2001 Posted on Sunday, January 2, 2005 - 5:28 pm:        Dave, Is it possible to expand the survey to include questions in favor or against passing ordinances for a cell tower, a dog park, and a bed and breakfast for South Orange and/or Maplewood?   SoOrLady Citizen Username: Soorlady Post Number: 1630 Registered: 9-2003 Posted on Sunday, January 2, 2005 - 5:42 pm:        Joan - I would think that Mark's numbers have a good deal to do with his activity on MOL - although Mr. Joyce & Mr. Rosen also post from time to time, Mark's post tend to be more thoughtful and positive. He also seeks to "problem solve". Add to this his usual sense of decorum at Trustee meetings and you get a positive rating.   MHD Citizen Username: Mayhewdrive Post Number: 1842 Registered: 5-2001 Posted on Sunday, January 2, 2005 - 6:46 pm:        Let's hope Steglitz's & Theroux's dismal numbers translate to them getting thrown out of office in May 2005!   Taylor M Citizen Username: Anotherusername Post Number: 230 Registered: 8-2004 Posted on Sunday, January 2, 2005 - 7:38 pm:        Dave Could you also do a poll on the music mess please?   thegoodsgt Citizen Username: Thegoodsgt Post Number: 716 Registered: 2-2002 Posted on Monday, January 3, 2005 - 9:11 am:        I think Mark Rosner's strong numbers reflect his willingness to communicate with his constituents. I'm sure the other members of the BOT would say they're always available to meet with us, either in person or at a meeting, but Mr. Rosner understands how to leverage the resources available in the Twentyfirst Century. As SOorLady points out, his comments on this forum reflect well on his concern and thoughfulness. To be fair, if I were an elected official, I'm not sure I'd post as frequently as Mr. Rosner, but I would make a strong effort to reach out to my people on a regular basis and answer their questions and concerns. Doing so would be in my best interests.   algebra2 Supporter Username: Algebra2 Post Number: 2797 Registered: 5-2001 Posted on Monday, January 3, 2005 - 9:44 am:        Only 7 people read the Post!?!   Dr. Winston O'Boogie Citizen Username: Casey Post Number: 937 Registered: 8-2003 Posted on Monday, January 3, 2005 - 10:12 am:        7 percent   Cathy Supporter Username: Clkelley Post Number: 670 Registered: 6-2002 Posted on Monday, January 3, 2005 - 3:16 pm:        93% of respondents are white? That's not representative of our towns, is it? Is MOL that lily-white? Or is it just the people responding to this poll? I'm frankly stunned.   Crazyguggenheim Citizen Username: Crazyguggenheim Post Number: 733 Registered: 2-2002 Posted on Monday, January 3, 2005 - 3:33 pm:        Call me crazy, but I thought you said I'm frankly stoned   ML Supporter Username: Ml1 Post Number: 2149 Registered: 5-2002 Posted on Monday, January 3, 2005 - 4:00 pm:        I've never thought MOL was representative of our towns. I've always said it's representative of the cranks and malcontents who live in our towns. Dave -- next year, can you add this question? Which of the following terms best describes you? Crank Malcontent Both Too cranky/malcontented to answer the question   Dave Moderator Username: Dave Post Number: 4878 Registered: 4-1998 Posted on Monday, January 3, 2005 - 4:16 pm:        I think there's a good representation of people who aren't cranks, but they don't post in the areas you're reading, Mr. Cranky ML. :-)   Dave Moderator Username: Dave Post Number: 4879 Registered: 4-1998 Posted on Monday, January 3, 2005 - 4:17 pm:        Cathy, I found it of interest as well. I don't know how to explain it.   ML Supporter Username: Ml1 Post Number: 2150 Registered: 5-2002 Posted on Monday, January 3, 2005 - 5:03 pm:        I think I should have said it overrepresents the towns' cranks and malcontents. And Dave, for the record, I'm a crank, not cranky. There's a difference.   greenetree Supporter Username: Greenetree Post Number: 3595 Registered: 5-2001 Posted on Monday, January 3, 2005 - 6:39 pm:        Polls (especially ones like these) always have a selection bias. In order to be representative of MSO, participants would have to be randomly selected from the community at large. People who opted to participate are not necessarily even representative of MOL. It wasn't (if I recall correctly) limited to those who have a user ID, so we basically know something about the people who came to MOL and decided to participate while the poll was open. Now, if we really want to know what MOL is like, Dave should pull a random sample and invite those people to participate. Using 10% of registered users should accomodate those who don't respond, have changed e-mail addresses, etc. He might, theoretically, start by looking at the number of registered users, keep only those that are active (being sure to first define "active"), then pull every nth user, or run a program to randomly select 10%. He would then e-mail these people and invite them to visit a poll, assuring them that their responses would be completely anonymous & used only for aggregate reporting. But, then again, Dave might have a life & better things to do....   Dave Moderator Username: Dave Post Number: 4882 Registered: 4-1998 Posted on Monday, January 3, 2005 - 6:44 pm:        It wasn't limited to only those who have a User ID; however, despite my best efforts I think there may have been an assumption about this. The methodology was to have it posted prominently at top of topics with a note username wasn't required and a link was included in the weekly e-mailing of the MOL calendar.   Cathy Supporter Username: Clkelley Post Number: 671 Registered: 6-2002 Posted on Tuesday, January 4, 2005 - 6:35 am:        greenetree, while I agree with everything you say, I doubt Dave has much interest in doing a truly scientific poll. In any case I've had very good luck getting voluntary samples that seem to be representative. Usually they over-represent females (typical figure is about 66% female - Dave's results are not unexpected if you assume that MOL has more than 50% males posting or reading). But other than that they're not bad at mirroring the demographics of whatever group I'm trying to understand. (I've been involved in both real "scientific" surveys and off-the-cuff q&d let's try to understand this group a little better type things.) I usually suspect response bias more from the topic of the survey - i.e. those who are strongly "for" or "against" are somewhat more likely to respond than those who are neutral. I don't recall ever doing a voluntary survey in which some demographic group stayed away in large numbers. Of course that doesn't mean it can't happen, it's just never happened to me. There are two reasons that I can think of for these strikingly unrepresentative results: 1) MOL readers are mainly white. 2) Non-white readers were much less likely to complete the survey. I can think of really plausible-sounding explanations for both of these. That doesn't mean my explanations are true. It is easier for me to believe reason #1, which is really surprising.   Mark Fuhrman Citizen Username: Mfpark Post Number: 1060 Registered: 9-2001 Posted on Tuesday, January 4, 2005 - 8:45 am:        An extension of the theme of why black kids and white kids do not sit together at lunch tables at school.   Soda Citizen Username: Soda Post Number: 2265 Registered: 5-2001 Posted on Tuesday, January 4, 2005 - 9:44 am:        Dave: Wazzup with the SECOND poll??? Any help needed? -s.   Dave Moderator Username: Dave Post Number: 4914 Registered: 4-1998 Posted on Wednesday, January 5, 2005 - 3:18 pm:        What is your current favorite local restaurant in Maplewood or South Orange? Total # Different Words: 217 Total # Verbatims: 341 Ordered by frequency trattoria - 32 go - 2 favorite - 1 st - 28 goat - 2 five - 1 gate - 27 haru - 2 greco - 1 village - 21 have - 2 guess - 1 james - 18 heart - 2 had - 1 verjus - 17 irish - 2 hall - 1 arugula - 16 jame's - 2 harry - 1 celebrated - 16 jocelyn - 2 harrys - 1 loco - 16 leaf - 2 haven't - 1 toro - 16 many - 2 havin - 1 cafe - 15 maple - 2 home - 1 food(s) - 15 mwd - 2 hurt - 1 fare - 11 name - 2 i'd - 1 jocelyn's - 11 restaurant(s) - 2 i/we - 1 american - 10 soul - 2 if - 1 reservoir - 10 south - 2 im - 1 bunny's - 9 there - 2 jame - 1 pub - 9 too - 2 jaqueline's - 1 james'(s) - 7 west - 2 jen's - 1 gourmet - 6 with - 2 joceleynes - 1 maplewood - 6 without - 2 joceline's - 1 roman - 6 'anni - 1 jocelynes - 1 antonellas - 5 -- - 1 jocelynes's - 1 asia - 5 almost - 1 joceyln's - 1 bbq - 5 always - 1 joclyns - 1 bill - 5 antonella - 1 jocylen's - 1 taste - 5 arugala - 1 joyclenes - 1 to - 5 asia/mosaica - 1 julio's - 1 antonella's - 4 b-b-q - 1 just - 1 cryans - 4 big - 1 king - 1 diner - 4 brewery - 1 lillies - 1 gaslight - 4 burger - 1 lunchtime - 1 mapleleaf - 4 c'entani - 1 m/so - 1 orange - 4 cabin - 1 mcdonalds - 1 we - 4 campus - 1 most - 1 anni - 3 camrmelita's - 1 moved - 1 arturo's - 3 can - 1 much - 1 burnet - 3 can't - 1 my - 1 burnett - 3 caribbean - 1 nightly - 1 carmelitas - 3 carmalita's - 1 number - 1 cent - 3 carmelita - 1 occasions - 1 cent'anni - 3 carmelita's - 1 one - 1 centanni - 3 carribbean - 1 oriental - 1 choose - 3 carribean - 1 out - 1 cuisine - 3 casual--village - 1 pal's - 1 for - 3 centani - 1 papillion - 1 harry's - 3 centianni's - 1 pen - 1 jocelyne's - 3 convenience's - 1 pick - 1 jocelyns - 3 correct - 1 pizza - 1 kids - 3 cryan's - 1 pizzeria - 1 like - 3 deliver - 1 places - 1 tratoria - 3 don't - 1 rarely - 1 bunnies - 2 duh - 1 res - 1 dancing - 2 el - 1 restuarants - 1 deli - 2 equally - 1 sake - 1 difficult - 2 fan - 1 shop - 1 eat - 2 fancy--cent - 1 single - 1 sorry - 1 they - 1 up - 1 special - 1 tie - 1 vs - 1 sub - 1 tied - 1 waterlillies - 1 suppose - 1 tired - 1 well - 1 sure - 1 toss - 1 wouldn't - 1 tara's - 1 town - 1 write - 1 tast - 1 trattoria--because - 1 yet - 1 that - 1 tried - 1 them - 1 trotteria - 1   Dave Moderator Username: Dave Post Number: 4915 Registered: 4-1998 Posted on Wednesday, January 5, 2005 - 3:18 pm:        (When I get a chance I'll code them)   Bobkat Supporter Username: Bobk Post Number: 7149 Registered: 5-2001 Posted on Wednesday, January 5, 2005 - 3:38 pm:        God, and I thought I was a bad speller.   greenetree Supporter Username: Greenetree Post Number: 3613 Registered: 5-2001 Posted on Wednesday, January 5, 2005 - 4:15 pm:        I think it would be more fun to have a contest to decipher it all!   Dave Moderator Username: Dave Post Number: 4918 Registered: 4-1998 Posted on Wednesday, January 5, 2005 - 4:50 pm:        Create new names of restaurants from the words: Nightly Campus Loco   Dave Moderator Username: Dave Post Number: 4919 Registered: 4-1998 Posted on Wednesday, January 5, 2005 - 5:13 pm:        Same question, results in alphabetical order Total # Different Words: 217 Total # Verbatims: 341 'anni - 1 duh - 1 leaf - 2 -1 eat - 2 like - 3 almost - 1 el - 1 lillies - 1 always - 1 equally - 1 loco - 16 american - 10 fan - 1 lunchtime - 1 anni - 3 fancy--cent - 1 m/so - 1 antonella - 1 fare - 11 many - 2 antonella's - 4 favorite - 1 maple - 2 antonellas - 5 five - 1 mapleleaf - 4 arturo's - 3 food(s) - 15 maplewood - 6 arugala - 1 for - 3 mcdonalds - 1 arugula - 16 gaslight - 4 most - 1 asia - 5 gate - 27 moved - 1 asia/mosaica - 1 go - 2 much - 1 b-b-q - 1 goat - 2 mwd - 2 bbq - 5 gourmet - 6 my - 1 big - 1 greco - 1 name - 2 bill - 5 guess - 1 nightly - 1 brewery - 1 had - 1 number - 1 bunnies - 2 hall - 1 occasions - 1 bunny's - 9 harry - 1 one - 1 burger - 1 harry's - 3 orange - 4 burnet - 3 harrys - 1 oriental - 1 burnett - 3 haru - 2 out - 1 c'entani - 1 have - 2 pal's - 1 cabin - 1 haven't - 1 papillion - 1 cafe - 15 havin - 1 pen - 1 campus - 1 heart - 2 pick - 1 camrmelita's - 1 home - 1 pizza - 1 can - 1 hurt - 1 pizzeria - 1 can't - 1 i'd - 1 places - 1 caribbean - 1 i/we - 1 pub - 9 carmalita's - 1 if - 1 rarely - 1 carmelita - 1 im - 1 res - 1 carmelita's - 1 irish - 2 reservoir - 10 carmelitas - 3 jame - 1 restaurant(s) - 2 carribbean - 1 jame's - 2 restuarants - 1 carribean - 1 james - 18 roman - 6 casual--village - 1 james'(s) - 7 sake - 1 celebrated - 16 jaqueline's - 1 shop - 1 cent - 3 jen's - 1 single - 1 cent'anni - 3 joceleynes - 1 sorry - 1 centani - 1 joceline's - 1 soul - 2 centanni - 3 jocelyn - 2 south - 2 centianni's - 1 jocelyn's - 11 special - 1 choose - 3 jocelyne's - 3 st - 28 convenience's - 1 jocelynes - 1 sub - 1 correct - 1 jocelynes's - 1 suppose - 1 cryan's - 1 jocelyns - 3 sure - 1 cryans - 4 joceyln's - 1 tara's - 1 cuisine - 3 joclyns - 1 tast - 1 dancing - 2 jocylen's - 1 taste - 5 deli - 2 joyclenes - 1 that - 1 deliver - 1 julio's - 1 them - 1 difficult - 2 just - 1 there - 2 diner - 4 kids - 3 they - 1 don't - 1 king - 1 tie - 1   sac Supporter Username: Sac Post Number: 1745 Registered: 5-2001 Posted on Wednesday, January 5, 2005 - 9:27 pm:        I think that Jocelyne's should win some kind of prize ... and I hope I picked the right one (?)