Benjamin Hodge

Survey Wording for Poll Conducted in Overland Park on Tuesday, August 9, and Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Group Blog Entry in The State & Local Educational Foundation of Kansas Blog

To view part 1 of survey results, click here.

To see accompanying information, click here.

Telephone poll conducted Tuesday, August 9; and Wednesday, August 10. It was performed using a recorded voice, and respondents were asked to push buttons to answer questions. Voters were called if they are registered to vote in Overland Park, and if they had voted in the November election of 2008 and/or the November election of 2010. Gender and age were determined by question, and party affiliation was determined by registration data.

Survey Wording:

Introduction: "Hello, we are conducting a brief public opinion survey, sponsored by the State and Local Educational Foundation. You were selected at random, and your answers are confidential. Your opinions are very important to us, so let's get started."

Questions:

1. "First, are you a registered voter in Overland Park, likely to vote in the 2012 elections?"

If yes, press 1
If no, press 2 ["No" respondents were allowed to continue answering further questions, but their answers were not included in the our results]
To repeat the question, press 9

2. "For demographic purposes, are you male or female?"

If male, press 1
Female, press 2
To repeat the question, press 9

3. "Are you over the age of 50, or under 50?"

If over 50, press 1
If under 50, press 2
To repeat the question, press 9

4. "Now I'm going to ask you some questions about your city government in Overland Park. Like many governments, the Overland Park city government faces budget shortfalls. Going forward, how should Overland Park balance its budget? Should the city government increase taxes, or cut spending?"

If increase taxes, press 1
If cut spending, press 2
If undecided, press 3
To repeat the question, press 9

5. "Asked a different way... by how much should city spending be decreased? Not at all? 1-5%? 6-10% Or 10% or more?"

Not at all, press 1
1-5% in spending cuts, press 2
6-10% in spending cuts, press 3
10% or more in spending cuts, press 4
If undecided, press 5
To repeat the question, press 9

6. "Generally speaking, would you prefer a more active government with more services and higher taxes, or a smaller government with fewer services and lower taxes?"

If a government with more services and higher taxes, press 1
If a government with fewer services and lower taxes, press 2
If undecided, press 3
To repeat the question, press 9

7. "Would making cuts to city services be acceptable to you? Or unacceptable to you?"

If acceptable, press 1
If unacceptable, press 2
If undecided, press 3
To repeat the question, press 9

8. "Currently, the Overland Park City Council is planning to increase property taxes by 46% in order to balance the budget. Do you support this 46% tax increase, or do you oppose it?"

If support, press 1
If oppose, press 2
If undecided, press 3
To repeat the question, press 9

9. "There was one public hearing held, after the City Council announced the 46% property tax increase. There are no more hearings planned before the City Council votes on the tax increase. Do you think this one public hearing was enough, or should there be more public hearings?"

If one public hearing was enough, press 1
If more public hearings should be held, press 2
If undecided, press 3
To repeat the question, press 9

10. "In general, have city councilmen done a good job of representing Overland Park voters? Or have city councilmen lost touch with voters throughout the city?"

If they've done a good job representing voters, press 1
If they've lost touch with voters, press 2
If undecided, press 3
To repeat the question, press 9

11. "Would it be more accurate to describe the agenda of the City Council as mainstream, or as extreme?"

If mainstream, press 1
If extreme, press 2
If undecided, press 3
To repeat the question, press 9

12. "Do you think city tax increases help the local economy, hurt the local economy, or have no impact on the economy?"

If help the economy, press 1
If hurt the economy, press 2
If have no impact, press 3
If undecided, press 4
To repeat the question, press 9

13. "Do you think decreases in government spending by the city, would help the local economy, hurt the local economy, or have no impact on the economy?"

If help the economy, press 1
If hurt the economy, press 2
If have no impact, press 3
If undecided, press 4
To repeat the question, press 9

14. "If given the opportunity, would you prefer a group of people selected at random from the Overland Park phone book to run city government, or the current City Council?"

If random group from phone book, press 1
If current City Council, press 2
If undecided, press 3
To repeat the question, press 9

15. "A group called the Overland Park Chamber of Commerce supports the 46% increase in city property taxes. By supporting this 46% property tax increase, do you think the Overland Park Chamber of Commerce accurately represents the views of the average business owner?"

If yes, press 1
If no, press 2
If undecided, press 3
To repeat the question, press 9

16. "Knowing that the Chamber of Commerce supports this tax increase, are you more likely, or less likely to support a business that is a member of the Overland Park Chamber of Commerce? Or is there no difference?"

If more likely, press 1
If less likely, press 2
If no difference, press 3
If undecided, press 4
To repeat the question, press 9

17. "Thinking ahead to the next presidential election … If the 2012 presidential election were held today, would you definitely vote to re-elect Barack Obama, probably vote to re-elect Obama, probably vote for someone else, or definitely vote for someone else?"

Definitely vote to re-elect Obama, press 1
Probably vote to re-elect Obama, press 2
Probably vote for someone else, press 3
Definitely vote for someone else, press 4
If undecided, press 5
To repeat the question, press 9

18. "In general, how would you describe your political views?"

If very conservative, press 1
If somewhat conservative press 2
If moderate, press 3
If somewhat liberal, press 4
If very liberal, press 5
To repeat the question, press 9

"I will now list the names of several public figures and groups, and we would like to know your opinion of them. It's OK if you have not heard of them."

19. "What is your opinion of Sam Brownback?"