 |
 |
Error during command authentication.
Error - unable to initiate communication with LISTSERV (errno=10061, phase=CONNECT, target=127.0.0.1:2306). The server is probably not started.
Houston is unlike any other place-fascinating and complex, but we may be sheltered from its reality during the ARLIS/NA Conference bubble: http://cohesion.rice.edu/centersandinst/has/index.cfm <http://cohesion.rice.edu/centersandinst/has/index.cfm> For the past 23 years, these countywide, random-digit-dialed, computer-assisted telephone surveys have monitored systematically the continuities and changes in demographic patterns, life experiences, attitudes, and beliefs among successive representative samples of Harris County residents. Using identical items across the years, with new questions added periodically, the annual Houston Area Survey has tracked America's fourth largest city in the midst of fundamental redefinition. No other metropolitan area in America has been the focus of a long-term study of this sort, and none more clearly exemplifies the remarkable trends that are radically reconstructing the social and political landscape of urban America. During most of the twentieth century, Houston was essentially an Anglo-dominated, biracial Southern city, riding the most important resource of the Industrial Age to continual prosperity. In May 1982, two months after the first survey, the oil boom collapsed. Houston recovered from the 1980s' recession into a restructured economy and a demographic revolution. New economic, educational, and environmental challenges have redefined the "pro-growth" strategies that will be required for cities to prosper in the twenty-first century. At the same time, major immigration flows have transformed this city into one of the nation's most culturally diverse metropolitan areas, at the forefront of the new ethnic diversity that is refashioning the social and political landscape of urban America. The overall purpose of this continuing project is to measure systematically the way area residents are responding to these remarkable transformations, and to make the findings of this research widely available to the general public and to research scholars. In order to ensure that every Harris County adult living in a household with a telephone will have an equal probability of being interviewed, survey respondents are selected through a two-stage random-digit-dialing procedure. In each household reached by randomly generated telephone numbers, the designated respondent is selected randomly from all household members aged 18 or older. Using "back translation" and the reconciliation of discrepancies, each year's questionnaire is translated into Spanish, and bilingual interviewers are assigned to the project at all times. Conducted annually during February and March, the interviews assess a rich array of attitudes and beliefs, of life circumstances and demographic characteristics, among successive representative samples of Harris County residents. In the early years, the sample size ranged from 412 to 679; since 1992, it has been set at 650. Response rates - the ratio of completed interviews to all eligible phone numbers - averaged nearly 75 percent in the 1980s and around 60 percent more recently. Cooperation rates - the ratio of completions to interviews plus refusals - have remained steady at approximately 75 percent. These are high figures for survey research, justifying continued confidence in the reliability of the data. As indicated on this site (All Survey Questions), the annual surveys have measured the respondents' changing outlooks on the local and national economy, poverty programs, and interethnic relationships; their beliefs about discrimination and affirmative action; their perspectives on immigration, education, crime, healthcare, taxation, and community service; their assessments of downtown development, mobility and transit, land-use controls, and environmental concerns; their attitudes toward abortion rights, homosexuality, and other aspects of the "social agenda"; their religious and political orientations, and their family structures. Miguel Juarez, Assistant Librarian (Art, Art Education, Art History & Photography) Fine Arts Library Center for Creative Photography Library University of Arizona Library Office: Music 231B P.O. Box 210103, Tucson, AZ 85721-0103 VOICE: (520) 626-9434/FAX: (520) 626-1630 E-mail: <mailto:[log in to unmask]> [log in to unmask] __________________________________________________________________ Mail submissions to [log in to unmask] For information about joining ARLIS/NA see: http://www.arlisna.org//membership.html Send administrative matters (file requests, subscription requests, etc) to [log in to unmask] ARLIS-L Archives and subscription maintenance: http://lsv.uky.edu/archives/arlis-l.html Questions may be addressed to list owner (Kerri Scannell) at: [log in to unmask]