Statistical Tabulations from a Survey of California Adults About Public Education and School Reform

This volume presents the results of a survey of California adults conducted on behalf of PACE by The Field Institute. All interviewing was conducted in either English or Spanish by telephone, January 29–February 2, 1998, from The Field Institute's central-location, telephone-interviewing facilities in San Francisco.

The survey was completed among a representative sample of 1,003 California adults. The sample for the survey was developed using random digit dialing methods, which give all adults with telephones (including those with listed and unlisted telephone numbers) an equal chance of being selected for the survey. After the completion of interviewing, appropriate statistical weights were developed to match the sample of California adults interviewed to known parameters of the adult population in California. Estimates of sampling error from results based on the overall adult public sample are +/- 3 percentage points.

There are many other possible sources of error other than sampling variability in this and any other public opinion survey. Different results could occur because of differences in question wording, sequencing, or through undetected errors or omissions in sampling, interviewing or data processing. The professionals working on this study did everything possible to minimize such errors.