2014 Windshield/Walking Community Survey Information and Tools

Shared by written permission of KU / Community Tool Box and G Tess Gossage RN

www.ctb.ku.edu

What, Why, When, Who and How for Surveys

W H A T A R E W I N D S H I E L D A N D W A L K I N G S U R V E Y S ?

Windshield surveys are systematic observations made from a moving vehicle. Walking surveys are systematic observations made on foot. Either or both can help you better understand either the community in general or a specific condition or aspect of it.

Windshield surveys are particularly useful when the area you want to observe is large, and the aspects you’re interested in can be seen from the road. A walking survey might be a better choice when you’re seeking to understand things that are harder to see from a moving vehicle.

Windshield and walking surveys can be used to assess general community needs – to estimate the poverty level, for example – or to examine more specific facets of the community’s physical, social, or economic character. Some possibilities:

The age, nature, and condition of the community’s available housing Infrastructure needs – roads, bridges, streetlights, etc. The presence or absence of functioning businesses and industrial facilities The location, condition, and use of public spaces The amount of activity on the streets at various times of the day, week, or year The noise level in various parts of the community The amount and movement of traffic at various times of day The location and condition of public buildings – the city or town hall, courthouse, etc.

W H Y W O U L D Y O U C O N D U C T W I N D S H I E L D A N D W A L K I N G S U R V E Y S ?

Windshield or walking surveys can be structured to provide an objective view of the community.

They can be adapted to community-based participatory action research, inviting community participation.

They can be the easiest and quickest way to get an overview of the entire community.

They allow clear comparisons among different parts of the community, and can help to determine where to focus your efforts.

They can be very useful in understanding specific aspects of a community.

o If your concern is with the community’s relationship to the environment, the nature of street life, traffic, or with any other particular element of community life or functioning, a windshield or walking survey that concentrates on that element can provide you with an overview and help you decide where to go next for more information.

They give you a “feel” for the community.

W H E N S H O U L D Y O U C O N D U C T W I N D S H I E L D A N D W A L K I N G S U R V E Y S ?

Often in the Community Tool Box, the answer to the “When…?” question is that there are times when performing an action is politically, socially, or logistically more appropriate than others. Here, that’s not the case: windshield or walking surveys can be conducted whenever they’re needed. However, if you want to understand how people use the community, you’ll need to conduct your survey at a time – perhaps a number of different times – when they’re likely to be engaged in activity you can see. To get the best picture of the community, you may have to do a number of surveys at different times of the day, week, and/or year.

W H O S H O U L D C O N D U C T W I N D S H I E L D A N D W A L K I N G S U R V E Y S ?

The answer to this question depends on a number of factors. How large is the area to be surveyed? How many times will surveys be conducted? Is this a participatory research project? Will you be conducting surveys in teams or as individuals?

A small neighborhood or rural village might be adequately surveyed in one day by a single person, whereas a large city might require several days with several teams of observers.

If you’re engaged in participatory research, you might organize observers in teams, each of which has representatives of different ages, cultures, ethnicities, income levels, community sectors (business, government, health and community services), etc.

For DSN you have been placed in groups of 10 student and we want you to canvas a designated neighborhood in two sub-groups of 5 students each and just divide the designated neighborhood in halves! You must use an official map that divides your neighborhood formally and if you are choosing a small town, please email me: ( G Tess Gossage, adjunct DSN RN Instructor at smilingmtn@yahoo.com) asap with the map so I can determine if the project is feasible with your team. All maps of neighborhood need to be emailed to me before committing to your areas please for that same reason.One important issue is safety. If there is hostility between races or ethnic groups, it may not be safe for some people to survey particular neighborhoods. Even if there is no real danger, but only a perception of danger, the resulting anxiety can affect the accuracy and completeness of a survey.

Another difficulty with conducting a windshield or walking survey as a participatory research project is that community members might already have set ideas about many of the questions that need to be asked. On the other hand, a windshield or walking survey can also serve to open community members’ eyes to the realities of their environment.

H O W D O Y O U C O N D U C T W I N D S H I E L D A N D W A L K I N G S U R V E Y S ?

Windshield and walking surveys are similar in many ways, but there are some important differences. Here, we’ll give some guidelines that relate to both, and then look at each in turn.

GE NER AL G UI DEL I NE S FOR B OT H WI ND SH IEL D AND WA LKI NG SU RVE YS

Determine who will conduct the survey

The reason this guideline is first is that you’re likely to get the best results if those who will be conducting the survey are involved in its planning. Their observations will be sharper if they understand what they’re looking for, which is most likely if they help to develop the survey.

The ideal, whether you’re driving or walking, is to use a team or teams if you have the resources to do so. The variety of perspectives will enrich the survey, and each team member can focus on a particular task – observation, recording, etc. – making for a more efficient survey.

For DSN students please email G Tess Gossage RN at smilingmtn@yahoo.com with each team member’s full name and assignments/tasks.

Decide on the questions you want your survey to answer

The questions you choose will determine the scope and structure of your survey. If your basic survey question is something like “What is the nature of the community?” then there will be a number of secondary questions to ask that will help you answer that first one. If your focus is much narrower, you may need only one question, such as, “Do most streets in the community have sidewalks?” or perhaps one question with more than one part: “How, by whom, and how much are public playgrounds used?”

Decide on the areas you’ll include in your survey

If your work is in a large city – New York, Tokyo, Cairo, etc. – you’re probably only concerned with a small section, or with a particular segment of the population. But you might want to survey other parts of the city as well, to get a sense of the city as a whole and fit that neighborhood or population in its context.

Your choices will help shape your understanding of the community, so you should make them thoughtfully. What areas will best reflect the aspects of the community you want to know about? Which locations best relate to the work you want to do?

Decide when you’ll conduct your survey

Consider how the time of day, week day versus weekend, and the season will affect your survey. You may want to repeat your survey more than once in order to capture the differences between community conditions or activities at different times.

Train the people who are going to conduct the survey

Training here is fairly simple, but there are some important points to be covered:

Get well acquainted with your questions, the purpose of the survey, and what you’re looking for.

Make and use a checklist to ensure that you address all of your questions, and observe all the areas you want to.

Try to be unobtrusive. Not only do people act differently when they know they’re being observed, but they may also become suspicious or hostile.

Carry identification . * DSN ID as well as other as appropriate (Driver’s License) and carry cell phone!

Take notes as you go along. You may also want to shoot photos or videos with a camera or cell phone, in order to both remember and illustrate what you’ve seen. If you wait to take

notes until after the survey is done, you may not remember everything clearly, or you may ignore important details.

If you’re working in teams, assign roles. A team should have at least one observer and at least one recorder.

Discuss your findings as you go. Pay attention to safety. Be aware of the neighborhood and situation you’re in, especially if

you’re walking. If you feel threatened, leave IMMEDIATELY and contact G Tess Gossage (720-429-1584) and any appropriate authorities depending on the situation after you are out of harm’s way!

What to examine in a general community assessment survey

Housing. What is the age and condition of housing in the neighborhoods you’re surveying? Are houses and apartment buildings kept up, or are they run-down and in need of repair? Are yards neat or overgrown?

Other buildings. Are the buildings mostly or fully occupied? Do public and commercial buildings seem accessible to people with disabilities – ramped, street level entries, etc.?

Public spaces. Are there public spaces where people can gather? Are they well kept up? Do they have seating areas, trees and plants, attractive design, cafes or food vendors, or other features meant to encourage people to use the space? Who uses these spaces? Is there diversity?

Parks. Are parks used by a variety of people?? Are they well kept up? Are there sports facilities – basketball courts, soccer pitches, baseball fields, cricket pitches, etc.? Are they used at night?

Culture and entertainment. Are there museums, libraries, theaters, restaurants, clubs, sports stadiums, historic sites, etc.? Are they accessible to all parts of the community (centrally located, reachable by public transportation)? Do they reflect the cultures of community members?

Streetscape. The streetscape is the environment created by streets and the sidewalks, buildings, trees, etc. that line them. Are there trees and/or plants? Are there sidewalks? Are building facades and storefronts attractive and welcoming? Are the streets and sidewalks relatively clean? Are there trash cans? Is there outdoor seating?

Street use. Are there people on the streets at most times of day? In the evening? How late? Do they interact with one another? Are streets and sidewalks well lit at night?

Commercial activity. What kinds of businesses are there? Are there boarded-up or vacant storefronts? Is there a mix of large and small businesses? Are there grocery stores and supermarkets, pharmacies, and other stores that provide necessities in all parts of the community?

Signs. What languages are business signs in? Are traffic signs informative? Are there signs directing people to various parts of the community (downtown, museums, highways, etc.)?

Industry. What kinds of industry exist in the community? Does it seem to be causing pollution?

Land use. How much open space is there? How are residential, commercial, and industrial areas distributed? Do major roads or railroad tracks divide neighborhoods, or are they on the edges of the community?

Infrastructure. What is the condition of roads, bridges, sidewalks, etc.? Are there differences in these conditions from one area of the community to another? Do all parts of the community seem to be equally served by electricity, water, phone, fiber optic, wastewater treatment, waste disposal, and other infrastructure services?

Public transportation. Is there a functioning public transportation system? Is it well used? By whom? Does it allow relatively easy access to all parts of the community? How easy is it to navigate and use? How much does it cost? Are its vehicles energy-efficient?

Traffic. How heavy is traffic in the community? Is it mostly commercial and industrial – vans, trucks, etc. – or mostly private cars? Is there ever gridlock? Is there much bicycle traffic? Are there bike lanes? Are there bike racks in many places?

Environmental quality. How much usable green space is there, and is it scattered throughout the community? Is there smog or haze? Does the air smell of smoke, garbage, car exhaust, chemicals, industrial waste, etc.? Does the water in streams, ponds, lakes, etc. seem reasonably clear?

Race/ethnicity. Who lives in the community? Are there identifiable racial and ethnic groups? Do particular groups seem to live in particular areas?

Faith communities. What kinds of religious institutions are there? Do the institutions of one particular religion or sect dominate? Are there separate houses of worship for people of different ethnicities or races, even if they share the same faith?

Health services. How many hospitals and clinics are there in the community? Where are they located? How big are they? How easy are they to get to?

Community and public services. Are there identifiable community service providers and organizations in the community – mental health centers, food banks, homeless shelters, welfare offices, etc.? Are they concentrated in a particular area? Are they easy to reach by public transportation?

Community safety. Where are police and fire stations located? Are they in good repair? Is the community well-lit at night?

Public schools. Are schools in different neighborhoods in noticeably different states of repair? Are schools well maintained? Or in some developing countries, are there schools in the community at all?

Higher education. Are there two- and four-year colleges and/or universities in the community? Where are they located? Do they seem open to the community, or do they seem self-contained and isolated?

Political activity. Are there signs or other indications of political activity? Is it clear that political activity is allowed and/or encouraged? Are there protests or demonstrations?

Community organizations. What evidence is there of organizations in the community? Are there service clubs – Lions, Elks, Masons, etc.? Are there other organizations – centered around community issues, the environment, sports or leisure pursuits, socialization, etc.?

Media. Are there local media outlets – radio and TV stations, newspapers, Internet sites devoted to local issues? Are they independent, or are they sponsored or run by government or corporations? Where are their facilities?

Differences among neighborhoods or areas of the community. What are the differences among different parts of the community? Are schools, stores, public and other buildings, streets, etc. in different areas in different condition? Do some areas seem neglected, while others are clearly maintained?

The “feel” of the community. What is your overall impression of the community?

GU ID EL I NE S FOR A WI NDS HI ELD S URV EY

Once your DSN team has located a designated neighbored, and it has been approved: Use a map with details of streets, local structures, railroad lines, and historical areas etc. Google Maps or similar services are an excellent resource.

If you can, try to use a team of at least two. That way, one person can concentrate on driving while the other navigates and records observations. It’s difficult to observe closely

and drive safely at the same time. Do not just rely on GPS maps on phone or tablet. Pre-Printing out the CORE map for all 10 team members /5 to each subset – prior to going out is a must.

Drive at a slow!-moderate speed, and avoid unexpected actions. The DRIVER JUST DRIVES!

Drive both on major and minor streets, particularly in residential neighborhoods. You’ll want to get a sense of different parts of neighborhoods and different streets.

Pull over at regular intervals to make and compare notes!!( parking lots are better than streets to pull over safely in )*

Try to be inconspicuous.

GU ID EL I NE S FOR A WAL KIN G SU RV EY

Study a map beforehand, or do a drive-through so you’ll know where you’re going Try to work in teams. Teams should probably not be larger than two or three, unless you’re

splitting up. Two or three people walking together is a normal group, but five or six is a crowd, and stands out.

If you want to experience the community, take part in everyday activities. Take public transportation, eat in a local restaurant, buy something in a drugstore or supermarket or discount store. This will give you a chance to listen to people’s conversations and to get a sense of how they interact.

Go inside public buildings and cultural institutions Sit down in a quiet place to take notes

IN S UM MA RY

Sometimes, the best survey can be a combination of walking and driving. You might survey the whole city or area in a vehicle, then use a walking survey to look closely at the area you’re most interested in. Or you might send out walking and driving teams to survey different aspects of a community or neighborhood. You’ll see different things and more detail on foot; you’ll cover more ground and get a broader perspective from a vehicle.

But even once your survey is finished, your job isn’t done yet. You have to analyze what you’ve seen and decide how to use it.

Some general questions you might want to consider:

What are the community’s outstanding assets? What seem to be the community’s biggest challenges? What is the most striking thing about the community? What is the most unexpected? Are you struck by the aesthetic quality of the community, either positively or negatively –

i.e., is it particularly beautiful or particularly ugly?

Whether you’re starting an all-encompassing campaign to eliminate poverty in your community, or simply looking for good places to paint murals to stimulate community pride, a windshield or walking survey can be a good way to begin your effort. It will give you a view of the community that you can use to help you decide how to take your next steps effectively in order to address real needs and improve the quality of community life.

Contributor Phil Rabinowtiz and add-ons: G Tess Gossage RN

How to Choose Your Designated Neighborhood (Community) and Make a Plan for Your Survey: Information and details to consider before you commit to a Community Neighborhood!

For those of us who work in community health and development, it's important to understand community -- what a community is, and the specific nature of the communities we work in.  Anything we do in a community requires us to be familiar with its people, its issues, and its history. Carrying out an intervention or building a coalition are far more likely to be successful if they are informed by the culture of the community and an understanding of the relationships among individuals and groups within it.

Taking the time and effort to understand your community well before embarking on a community effort will pay off in the long term. A good way to accomplish that is to create a community description -- a record of your exploration and findings. It's a good way to gain a comprehensive overview of the community -- what it is now, what it's been in the past, and what it could be in the future. In this section, we'll discuss how you might approach examining the community in some detail and setting down your findings in a community description.

WHAT I S A CO MM UN ITY ?

While we traditionally think of a community as the people in a given geographical location, the word can really refer to any group sharing something in common. This may refer to smaller geographic areas -- a neighborhood, a housing project or development, a rural area -- or to a number of other possible communities within a larger, geographically-defined community. These are often defined by race or ethnicity, professional or economic ties, religion, culture, or shared background or interest:

The Catholic community (or faith community, a term used to refer to one or more congregations of a specific faith).

The arts community The African American community The education community The business community The homeless community The gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered community The medical community The Haitian community The elderly community

These various communities often overlap. An African American art teacher, for example, might see herself (or be seen by others) as a member of the African American, arts, and/or education communities, as well as of a particular faith community. An Italian woman may become an intensely involved member of the ethnic and cultural community of her Nigerian husband. Whichever community defines your work, you will want to get to know it well.

WHAT D O WE M EA N BY UN DE RST AND IN G AN D DES CR IB I NG THE CO MM U NI TY?

Understanding the community entails understanding it in a number of ways.  Whether or not the community is defined geographically, it still has a geographic context -- a setting that it exists in. Getting a clear sense of this setting may be key to a full understanding of it.  At the same time, it's important to understand the specific community you're concerned with. You have to get to know its people -- their culture, their concerns, and relationships -- and to develop your own relationships with them as well.

Physical aspects. Every community has a physical presence of some sort, even if only one building.  Most have a geographic area or areas they are either defined by or attached to.  It's important to know the community's size and the look and feel of its buildings, its topography (the lay of the land -- the hills, valleys, rivers, roads, and other features you'd find on a map), and each of its neighborhoods.  Also important are how various areas of the community differ from one another, and whether your impression is one of clean, well-maintained houses and streets, or one of shabbiness, dirt, and neglect.

If the community is one defined by its population, then its physical properties are also defined by the population: where they live, where they gather, the places that are important to them.  The characteristics of those places can tell you a great deal about the people who make up the community.  Their self-image, many of their attitudes, and their aspirations are often reflected in the places where they choose -- or are forced by circumstance or discrimination -- to live, work, gather, and play.

Infrastructure.  Roads, bridges, transportation (local public transportation, airports, train lines), electricity, land line and mobile telephone service, broadband service, and similar "basics" make up the infrastructure of the community, without which it couldn't function.

Patterns of settlement, commerce, and industry.  Where are those physical spaces we've been discussing? Communities reveal their character by where and how they create living and working spaces. Where there are true slums --  substandard housing in areas with few or no services that are the only options for low-income people -- the value the larger community places on those residents seems clear.  Are heavy industries located next to residential neighborhoods?  If so, who lives in those neighborhoods?  Are some parts of the community dangerous, either because of high crime and violence or because of unsafe conditions in the built or natural environment?

Demographics.  It's vital to understand who makes up the community.  Age, gender, race and ethnicity, marital status, education, number of people in household, first language -- these and other statistics make up the demographic profile of the population.  When you put them together (e.g.,  the education level of black women ages 18-24), it gives you a clear picture of who community residents are.

History. The long-term history of the community can tell you about community traditions, what the community is, or has been, proud of, and what residents would prefer not to talk about.  Recent history can afford valuable information about conflicts and factions within the community, important issues, past and current relationships among key people and groups -- many of the factors that can trip up any effort before it starts if you don't know about and address them.

Community leaders, formal and informal.  Some community leaders are elected or appointed -- mayors, city councilors, and directors of public works.  Others are considered leaders because of their activities or their positions in the community -- community activists, corporate CEO's, college presidents, doctors, clergy.  Still others are recognized as leaders because, they are trusted for their proven integrity, courage, and/or care for others and the good of the community.

Community culture, formal and informal.  This covers the spoken and unspoken rules and traditions by which the community lives.  It can include everything from community events and slogans -- the blessing of the fishing fleet, the "Artichoke Capital of the World" -- to norms of behavior -- turning a blind eye to alcohol abuse or domestic violence -- to patterns of discrimination and exercise of power.  Understanding the culture and how it developed can be crucial, especially if that's what you're attempting to change.

Existing groups.  Most communities have an array of groups and organizations of different kinds -- service clubs (Lions, Rotary, etc.), faith groups, youth organizations, sports teams

and clubs, groups formed around shared interests, the boards of community-wide organizations (the YMCA, the symphony, United Way), as well as groups devoted to self-help, advocacy, and activism.  Knowing of the existence and importance of each of these groups can pave the way for alliances or for understanding opposition.

Existing institutions.  Every community has institutions that are important to it, and that have more or less credibility with residents.  Colleges and universities, libraries, religious institutions, hospitals -- all of these and many others can occupy important places in the community.  It's important to know what they are, who represents them, and what influence they wield.

Economics.  Who are the major employers in the community?  What, if any, business or industry is the community's base?  Who, if anyone, exercises economic power?  How is wealth distributed?  Would you characterize the community as poor, working, class, middle class, or affluent?  What are the economic prospects of the population in general and/or the population you're concerned with?

Government/Politics.  Understanding the structure of community government is obviously important.  Some communities may have strong mayors and weak city councils, others the opposite.  Still other communities may have no mayor at all, but only a town manager, or may have a different form of government entirely.  Whatever the government structure, where does political power lie?  Understanding where the real power is can be the difference between a successful effort and a vain one.

Social structure.  Many aspects of social structure are integrated into other areas -- relationships, politics, economics -- but there are also the questions of how people in the community relate to one another on a daily basis, how problems are (or aren't) resolved, who socializes or does business with whom, etc.  This area also includes perceptions and symbols of status and respect, and whether status carries entitlement or responsibility (or both).

Attitudes and values.  Again, much of this area may be covered by investigation into others, particularly culture.  What does the community care about, and what does it ignore?  What are residents' assumptions about the proper way to behave, to dress, to do business, to treat others?  Is there widely accepted discrimination against one or more groups by the majority or by those in power?  What are the norms for interaction among those who with different opinions or different backgrounds?

We'll discuss all of these aspects of community in greater detail later in the section.

There are obviously many more aspects of community that can be explored, such as health or education.  The assumption here is that as part of an assessment, you'll aim for a general understanding of the community, as described in this section, and also assess, with a narrower focus, the specific aspects you're interested in.

Once you've explored the relevant areas of the community, you'll have the information to create a community description. Depending on your needs and information, this description might be anything from a two-or three-page outline to an in-depth portrait of the community that extends to tens of pages and includes charts, graphs, photographs, and other elements.  The point of doing it is to have a picture of the community at a particular point in time that you can use to provide a context for your community assessment and to see the results of whatever actions you take to bring about change.

A community description can be as creative as you're capable of making it.  It can be written as a story, can incorporate photos and commentary from community residents (see Photovoice), can be done online and include audio and video, etc. The more interesting the description is, the more people are likely to actually read it. (Denver PBS,(Public Broadcasting System-located downtown near DSN) has archives of local oral histories!!

W H Y M A K E T H E E F F O R T T O U N D E R S T A N D A N D D E S C R I B E Y O U R C O M M U N I T Y ?

You may at this point be thinking, "Can't I work effectively within this community without gathering all this information?" Perhaps, if it's a community you're already familiar with, and really know it well. If you're new to the community, or an outsider, however, it's a different story. Not having the proper background information on your community may not seem like a big deal until you unintentionally find yourself on one side of a bitter divide, or get involved in an issue without knowing about its long and tangled history.

Some advantages to taking the time to understand the community and create a community description include:

Gaining a general idea, even before an assessment, of the community's strengths and the challenges it faces.

Capturing unspoken, influential rules and norms. For example, if people are divided and angry about a particular issue, your information might show you an event in the community's history that explains their strong emotions on that subject.

Getting a feel for the attitudes and opinions of the community when you're starting work on an initiative.

Ensuring the security of your organization's staff and participants.  There may be neighborhoods where staff members or participants should be accompanied by others in order to be safe, at least at night.  Knowing the character of various areas and the invisible borders that exist among various groups and neighborhoods can be extremely important for the physical safety of those working and living in the community.

Having enough familiarity with the community to allow you to converse intelligently with residents about community issues, personalities and geography.  Knowing that you've taken the time and effort to get to know them and their environment can help you to establish trust with community members.  That can make both a community assessment and any actions and activities that result from it easier to conduct.

Being able to talk convincingly with the media about the community. Being able to share information with other organizations or coalitions that work in the

community so that you can collaborate or so that everyone's work can benefit. Providing background and justification for grant proposals. Knowing the context of the community so that you can tailor interventions and programs to

its norms and culture, and increase your chances of success.

W H E N S H O U L D Y O U M A K E A N E F F O R T T O U N D E R S T A N D A N D D E S C R I B E T H E C O M M U N I T Y ?

When you're about to launch a community assessment.  The first step is to get a clear sense of the community, before more specifically assessing the area(s) you're interested in.

When you're new to a community and want to be well informed before beginning your work. If you've just started working in a community -- even if its work you've been doing for

years -- you will probably find that taking the time to write a community description enriches your work.

When you've been working in a community for any length of time and want to take stock. Communities are complex, constantly-changing entities. By periodically stopping to write a detailed description of your community, you can assess what approaches have worked and what haven't; new needs that have developed over time and old concerns that no longer require your effort and energy; and other information to help you better do your work.

When you're feeling like you're stuck in a rut and need a fresh perspective.  Organizations have to remain dynamic in order to keep moving forward.  Reexamining the community -- or perhaps examining it carefully for the first time -- can infuse an organization with new ideas and new purpose.

When you're considering introducing a new initiative or program and want to assess its possible success. Aside from when you first come to a community, this is probably the most vital time to do a community description.

When a funder asks you to, often as part of a funding proposal.

While researching and writing a community description can take time, your work can almost always benefit from the information you gather.

W H O M S H O U L D Y O U C O N T A C T T O G A T H E R I N F O R M A T I O N ?

Much of your best and most interesting information may come from community members with no particular credentials except that they're part of the community. 

It's especially important to get the perspective of those who often don't have a voice in community decisions and politics -- low-income people, immigrants, and others who are often kept out of the community discussion. In addition, however, there are some specific people that it might be important to talk to.  They're the individuals in key positions, or those who are trusted by a large part of the community or by a particular population. In a typical community, they might include:

Elected officials Community planners and development officers Chiefs of police School superintendents, principals, and teachers Directors or staff of health and human service organizations Health professionals Clergy Community activists Housing advocates Presidents or chairs of civic or service clubs -- Chamber of Commerce, veterans'

organizations, Lions, Rotary, etc. People without titles, but identified by others as "community leaders"

H O W D O Y O U G O A B O U T U N D E R S T A N D I N G A N D D E S C R I B I N G T H E C O M M U N I T Y ?

G E N E R A L G U I D E L I N E S

To begin, let's look at some basic principles to keep in mind.

Be prepared to learn from the community.  Assume that you have a lot to learn, and approach the process with an open mind. Listen to what people have to say. Observe carefully. Take notes -- you can use them later to generate new questions or to help answer old ones.

Be aware that people's speech, thoughts, and actions are not always rational.  Their attitudes and behavior  are often best understood in the context of their history, social relations, and culture. Race relations in the U.S., for example, can't be understood without knowing some of the historical context -- the history of slavery, Jim Crow laws, and the work of Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement.

Don't assume that the information people give you is necessarily accurate. There are a number of reasons why informants may tell you things that are inaccurate.  People's perceptions don't always reflect reality, but are colored instead by what they think or what they think they know.  In addition, some may intentionally exaggerate or downplay particular conditions or issues for their own purposes or for what they see as the greater good.  (The Chamber of Commerce or local government officials might try to make economic conditions look better than they are in the hopes of attracting new business to the community, for instance.)  Others may simply be mistaken about what they tell you  -- the geographical boundaries of a particular neighborhood, for example, or the year of an important event.  Get information, particularly on issues, conditions, and relationships from many sources if you can.  As time goes on, you'll learn who the always-reliable sources are.

Beware of activities that may change people's behavior.  It's well known that people (and animals as well) can change their normal behavior as a result of knowing they're being studied.  Neighborhood residents may clean up their yards if they're aware that someone is taking the measure of the neighborhood.  Community members may try to appear as they wish to be seen, rather than as they really are, if they know you're watching.  To the extent that you can, try not to do anything that will change the way people go about their daily business or express themselves.  That usually means being as unobtrusive as possible -- not being obvious about taking pictures or making notes, for instance.  In some circumstances, it could mean trying to gain trust and insight through participant observation.

Participant observation is a technique that anthropologists use.  It entails becoming part of another culture, both to keep people in it from being influenced by your presence and to understand it from the inside.  Some researchers believe it addresses the problem of changing the culture by studying it, and others believe that it makes the problem worse.

Take advantage of the information and facilities that help shape the world of those who have lived in the community for a long time.  Read the local newspaper (and the alternative paper, too, if there is one), listen to local radio, watch local TV, listen to conversation in cafes and bars, in barbershops and beauty shops.  You can learn a great deal about a community by immersing yourself in its internal communication.  The Chamber of Commerce will usually have a list of area businesses and organizations, along with their contact people, which should give you both points of contact and a sense of who the

people are that you might want to get in touch with.  Go to the library -- local librarians are often treasure troves of information, and their professional goal is to spread it around.  Check out bulletin boards at supermarkets and laundromats.  Even graffiti can be a valuable source of information about community issues.

Network, network, network.  Every contact you make in the community has the potential to lead you to more contacts. Whether you're talking to official or unofficial community leaders or to people you just met on the street, always ask who else they would recommend that you talk to and whether you can use their names when you contact those people. Establishing relationships with a variety of community members is probably the most important thing you can do to ensure that you'll be able to get the information you need, and that you'll have support for working in the community when you finish your assessment and begin your effort.

Compare and contrast past and present day situations.

GA THE RI NG I NFO RM AT IO N

To find out about various aspects of the community, you'll need a number of different methods of gathering information.  We've already discussed some of them, and many of the remaining sections of this chapter deal with them, because they're the same methods you'll use in doing a full community assessment.  Here, we'll simply list them, with short explanations and links to sections where you can get more information about each.

Public records and archives.  These include local, state, and federal government statistics and records, newspaper archives, and the records of other organizations that they're willing to share.  Many of the public documents are available at public and/or university libraries and on line at government websites.  Most communities have their own websites, which often contain valuable information as well.

Individual and group interviews.  Interviews can range from casual conversations in a cafe to structured formal interviews in which the interviewer asks the same specific questions of a number of carefully chosen key informants.  They can be conducted with individuals or groups, in all kinds of different places and circumstances. They're often the best sources of information, but they're also time-consuming and involve finding the right people and convincing them to consent to be interviewed, as well as finding (and sometimes training) good interviewers.

Interviews may include enlisting as sources of information others who've spent time learning about the community.  University researchers, staff and administrators of health and human service organizations, and activists may all have done considerable work to understand the character and inner workings of the community.  Take advantage of their findings if you can.  It may save you many hours of effort.

Surveys.  There are various types of surveys.  They can be written or oral, conducted with a selected small group -- usually a randomized sample that represents a larger population -- or with as many community members as possible.  They can be sent through the mail, administered over the phone or in person, or given to specific groups (school classes, faith congregations, the Rotary Club).  They're often fairly short, and ask for answers that are either yes-no, or that rate the survey-taker's opinion of a number of possibilities (typically on a scale that represents "agree strongly" to "disagree strongly" or "very favorable" to "very unfavorable.")   Surveys can, however, be much more comprehensive, with many questions, and can ask for more complex answers.

Direct or participant observation.  Often the best way to find out about the community is simply to observe.  You can observe physical features, conditions in various areas, the interactions of people in different neighborhoods and circumstances, the amount of traffic, commercial activity, how people use various facilities and spaces, or the evidence of previous events or decisions. Participant observation means becoming part of the group or scene you're observing, so that you can see it from the inside.

Observation can take many forms.  In addition to simply going to a place and taking notes on what you see, you might use other techniques -- Photovoice, video, audio, simple photographs, drawings, etc.  Don't limit the ways in which you can record your observations and impressions.

TIPS for Conducting Professional Interviews

Interviewing in a nutshell

Determine what you want to know. Discuss the kinds of questions you want to ask (open ended: How do you

feel about...) or (close ended: Which do you like better: A or B?). Draft your interview questions. Determine who you'd like to interview (samples) Train your interviewers

so they will all ask the same questions the same way. Contact the people you want to interview. Make appointments and follow up on them unless you are soliciting

people on the street or in a mall, for instance. Collect and analyze the data.

When you're watching the news at night or reading the paper in the morning, you'll notice that all the stories have a point in common: They all contain interviews. No matter what subject is being tackled, there'll always be people willing to be interviewed about it. And that's great, because that way we can get a sample of what people think and feel about different issues.

Interviews are usually defined as a conversation with a purpose. They can be very helpful to your organization when you need information about assumptions and perceptions of activities in your community. They're also great if you're looking for in-depth information on a particular topic

from an expert. (If what you really need is numerical data--how much and how many--a written questionnaire may better serve your purposes.)

Interviewing has been described as an art, rather than a skill or science. In other cases, it has been described as game in which the interviewee gets some sort of reward, or simply as a technical skill you can learn. But, no matter how you look at it, interviewing is a process that can be mastered by practice. This chapter will show you how.

WHY SH OU LD YO U CO ND UCT I NTE RVI EWS ?

Using an interview is the best way to have an accurate and thorough communication of ideas between you and the person from whom you're gathering information. You have control of the question order, and you can make sure that all the questions will be answered.

In addition, you may benefit from the spontaneity of the interview process. Interviewees don't always have the luxury of going away and thinking about their responses or, even to some degree, censoring their responses. You may find that interviewees will blurt things out that they would never commit to on paper in a questionnaire.

WHEN I NT ERV IE WS A RE NO T THE B EST O PTI ON :

Interviews are not the only way of gathering information and depending on the case, they may not even be appropriate or efficient. For example, large-scale phone interviews can be time-consuming and expensive. Mailed questionnaires may be the best option in cases where you need information form a large number of people. Interviews aren't efficient either when all you need is collecting straight numeric data. Asking your respondents to fill out a form may be more appropriate.

Interviews will not be suitable if respondents will be unwillingly to cooperate. If your interviewees have something against you or your organization, they will not give you the answers you want and may even mess up your results. When people don't want to talk, setting up an interview is a waste of time and resources. You should, then, look for a less direct way of gathering the information you need.

PR OBL EM S WI TH I NTE RVI EWS:

You must also be well prepared for traps that might arise from interviews. For example, your interviewee may have a personal agenda and he or she will try to push the interview in a way to benefit their own interests. The best solution is to become aware of your interviewee's inclinations before arranging the interview.

Sometimes, the interviewee exercises his or her control even after the interview is done, asking to change or edit the final copy. That should be a right of the interviewer only. If the subject you're addressing involves technical information, you may have the interviewee check the final result for you, just for accuracy.

WHO M SH OU LD YO U IN TER VI EW?

Your choice of interviewees will, obviously, be influenced by the nature of the information you need. For example, if you're trying to set up a volunteer program for your organization, you may want to interview the volunteer coordinator at one or two other successful agencies for ideas for your program.

On the other hand, if you're taking a look at the community's response to an ad campaign you've been running, you'll want to identify members of the target audience to interview. In this case, a focus group can be extremely useful.

If you're reluctant to contact a stranger for an interview, remember that most people enjoy talking about what they know and are especially eager to share their knowledge with those who are interested. Demonstrate interest and your chances of getting good interviews will improve.

HO W S HO ULD YO U CO ND UC T I NT ERV IE WS ?

Sometimes, being a good interviewer is described as an innate ability or quality possessed by only some people and not by others. Certainly, interviewing may come more easily to some people than to others, but anybody can learn the basic strategies and procedures of interviewing. We're here to show you how.

IN TER VI EW S TRU CTU RE:

First you should decide how structured you want your interview to be. Interviews can be formally structured, loosely structured, or not structured at all. The style of interviewing you will adopt will depend on the kind of result you're looking for.

In a highly structured interview, you simply ask subjects to answer a list of questions. To get a valid result, you should ask all subjects identical questions. In an interview without a rigid structure, you can create and ask questions appropriate the situations that arise and to the central purpose of the interview. There's no predetermined list of questions to ask. Finally, in a semi-structured setting, there is a list of predetermined questions, but interviewees are allowed to digress.

TYP ES OF I NTE RVI EWS :

Now that you've decided how structured you want the interview to be, it's time to decide how you want to conduct it. Can you do it through the phone, or do you need to it face-to-face? Would a focus group be most appropriate? Let's look at each of these interview types in depth.

Face-to-face interviews

Face-to-face interviews are a great way to gather information. Whether you decide to interview face-to-face depends on the amount of time and resources you have available at your disposal. Some advantages of interviewing in person are:

You have more flexibility. You can probe for more specific answers, repeat questions, and use discretion as to the particular questions you ask.

You are able to watch nonverbal behavior. You have control over the physical environment. You can record spontaneous answers. You know exactly who is answering. You can make sure the interview is complete and all questions have been asked. You can use a more complex questionnaire.

However, if face-to-face interviews prove to be too expensive, too time-consuming, or too inconvenient to be conducted, you should consider some other way of interviewing. For example, if the information you're collecting is of a sensitive and confidential nature, your respondents may prefer the comfort of anonymity, and an anonymous questionnaire would probably be more appropriate.

Telephone interviews

Telephone interviews are also a good way of getting information.

They're particularly useful when the person you want to speak to lives far away and setting up a face-to-face interview is impractical. Many of the same advantages and disadvantages of face-to-face interviewing apply here; the exception being, of course, that you won't be able to watch nonverbal behavior.

Here are some tips to make your phone interview successful:

Keep phone interviews to no more than about ten minutes--exceptions to this rule may be made depending on the type of interview you're conducting and on the arrangements you've made with the interviewee.

If you need your interviewee to refer to any materials, provide them in advance. Be extra motivating on the phone, because people tend to be less willing to become

engaged in conversation over the phone. Identify yourself and offer your credentials. Some respondents may be distrustful, thinking

they're being played a prank. If tape-recording the conversation, ask for authorization to do so. Write down the information as you hear it; don't trust your memory to write the information

down later. Speak loud, clear and with pitch variation -- don't make it another boring phone call. Don't call too early in the morning or too late at night, unless arranged in advance. Finish the conversation cordially, and thank the interviewee.

With the increasing use of computers as a means of communication, interviews via e-mail have become popular. E-mail is an inexpensive option for interviewing. The advantages and drawbacks of e-mail interviews are similar to phone interviews. E-mails are far less intrusive than the phone. You are able to contact your interviewee, send your questions, and follow up the received answers with a thank-you message. You may never meet or talk to your respondent.

However, through e-mail your chances for probing are very limited, unless you keep sending messages back and forth to clarify answers. That's why you need to be very clear about what you need when you first contact your interviewee. Some people may also resent the impersonal nature of e-mail interaction, while others may feel more comfortable having time to think about their answers.

Focus groups

A focus group, led by a trained facilitator, is a particular type of "group interview" that may be very useful to you. Focus groups consisting of groups of people whose opinions you would like to know may be somewhat less structured; however, the input you get is very valuable. Focus groups are perhaps the most flexible tool for gathering information because you can focus in on getting the opinions of a group of people while asking open-ended questions that the whole group is free to answer and discuss. This often sparks debate and conversation, yielding lots of great information about the group's opinion.

During the focus group, the facilitator is also able to observe the nonverbal communication of the participants. Although the sample size is generally smaller than some other forms of information gathering, the free exchange of opinions brought on by the group interaction is an invaluable tool.

PR EPA RE FO R THE I NTE RVI EW

So you've chosen your interviewees, set up the interview, and started to think about interview questions. You're ready to roll, right?

Not quite. First, you need to make sure you have as much information as possible about your interview topic. You don't need to be an expert -- after all, that's why you're interviewing people! -- but you do want to be fairly knowledgeable. Having a solid understanding of the topic at hand will make you feel more comfortable as an interviewer, enhance the quality of the questions you ask, and make your interviewee more comfortable as well.

In addition, it's important to understand your interviewee's culture and background before you conduct your interview. This understanding will be reflected on the way you phrase your questions, your choice of words, your ice-breakers, the way you'll dress, which the material you'll avoid so that the questions remain inoffensive to your interviewee.

CO ND UCT TH E IN TER VI EW

Now that you're prepared, it's time to conduct the interview. Whether calling or meeting someone, be sure to be on time -- your interviewee is doing you a favor, and you don't want to keep him or her waiting.

When interviewing someone, start with some small talk to build rapport. Don't just plunge into your questions -- make your interviewee as comfortable as possible.

Points to remember:

Practice -- prepare a list of interview questions in advance. Rehearse, try lines, mock-interview friends. Memorize your questions. Plan ahead the location and ways to make the ambient more comfortable.

Small-talk -- never begin an interview cold. Try to put your interviewee at ease and establish rapport.

Be natural -- even if you rehearsed your interview time and time again and have all your questions memorized, make it sound and feel like you're coming up with them right there.

Look sharp -- dress appropriately to the ambient you're in and to the kind of person you're interviewing. Generally you're safe with business attire, but adapt to your audience. Arrive on time if you are conducting the interview in person.

Listen -- present yourself aware and interested. If your interviewee says something funny, smile. If it's something sad, look sad. React to what you hear.

Keep your goals in mind -- remember that what you want is to obtain information. Keep the interview on track, don't digress too much. Keep the conversation focused on your questions. Be considerate of your interviewee's limited time.

Don't take "yes/no" answers -- monosyllabic answers don't offer much information. Ask for an elaboration, probe, ask why. Silence may also yield information. Ask the interviewee to clarify anything you do not understand

Respect -- make interviewees feel like their answers are very important to you (they are supposed to be!) and be respectful for the time they're donating to help you.

QU EST IO NS :

Questions are such a fundamental part of an interview that's worth taking a minute to look at the subject in depth. Questions can relate to the central focus of your interview, with to-the-point, specific answers; they can be used to check the reliability of other answers; they can be used just to create a comfortable relationship between you and the interviewee; and they can probe for more complete answers.

It's very important that you ask your questions in a way to motivate the interviewee to answer as completely and honestly as possible. Avoid inflammatory questions ("Do you always discriminate against women and minorities, or just some of the time?"), and try to stay polite. And remember to express clearly what you want to know. Just because interviewer and interviewee speak the same language, it doesn't mean they'll necessarily understand each other.

There are some problems that can arise from the way you ask a question. Here are several of the most common pitfalls:

Questions that put the interviewee in the defensive -- These questions bring up emotional responses, usually negative. To ask, "Why did you do such a bad thing?" will feel like you are confronting your interviewee, and he or she will get defensive. Try to ask things in a more relaxed manner.

The two-in-one question -- These are questions that ask for two answers in one question. For instance, "Does your company have special recruitment policy for women and racial minorities?" may cause hesitation and indecision in the interviewee. A "yes" would mean both, and a "no" would be for neither. Separate the issues into two separate questions.

The complex question -- Questions that are too long, too involved, or too intricate will intimidate or confuse your interviewee. The subject may not even understand the questions in its entirety. The solution is to break down the question and make brief and concise.

In addition, pay attention to the order in which you ask your questions. The arrangement or ordering of your question may significantly affect the results of your interview. Try to start the interview with mild and easy questions to develop a rapport with the interviewee. As the interview proceeds, move to more sensitive and complex questions.

F I NAL TH OU GH TS

Remember to take good notes, if you're taking notes. Put quotation marks around the person's actual words, and don't embellish their quotes. You may tape-record the conversation, but make sure your tape recorder is working well, or hours of work can go down the drain. If you're going to tape-record your interview, make sure you obtain the interviewee's permission beforehand and on tape.

Finally, it's important to time your interview so that it won't last for hours. Some people may refuse to (or may be too busy to) engage on an interview they know will last for two or more hours. Others may lose interest during a long interview. So, try to be concise. A good rule of thumb is to make your interview long enough that you get useful information from it and short enough that you don't tire your interviewee. If you know you'll need to spend a lot of time interviewing somebody, consider dividing your interviews in two or more sessions.

IN S UM MA RY

So, your interview is done and it you've got the information you needed. It's time to thank you interviewee for his or her kind cooperation. Send them a thank you note soon after the interview. Be cordial and appreciative. You never know when you may need or want to interview this person again!

Contributor Marcelo Vilela