Methodology

This report is Phase III of a three phase project to better understand the attitudes and behaviors of youth as they relate to the environment. Phase I was a series of focus groups, Phase II a national cross-section of American Youth and Phase III a survey of students in disadvantaged areas only.

A school-based sample was employed for this survey, allowing both disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged students to be contacted in the same manner. The schools were randomly selected, as were the classes which took part in the survey. Young people were presented with questionnaires in their English class and filling out of the questionnaire was supervised by the teacher. A total of 2,139 students were interviewed for this survey; interviewing was conducted between September 23 and October 24, 1994.

Selection of Schools

Starting with a database of all schools nationwide, ZIP Codes, urbanicity/type of school (public, private, parochial), grade, enrollment and Census region were designated for each school. The schools were then stratified by Census region and urbanicity/school type (public, private, parochial).

There were three stages in the random selection of the stratified schools: Stage 1 ordered the schools by estimated enrollment for grades 4 through 12, largest to smallest. Their total enrollment was divided by the number of schools to be selected, producing an interval used in conjunction with the cumulative enrollment to select the sample of schools systematically. This ensured that the selection of schools was proportionate to enrollment; Stage 2 randomly selected one grade in each sample school, with each eligible grade having equal probability of selection; Stage 3 randomly selected one class in the designated grade that would receive the survey. This was performed once a school consented to participate in the survey (see below). Each student in the class was given a questionnaire, supervised by the teacher.

After Stage 1, the schools were assigned to packets, five schools to a packet, with one school selected to be contacted for consent and four replacement schools. All schools in a packet were of the same stratus and enrollment level, grade range and similar ZIP characteristics. A total of 91 schools participated in the survey of students from disadvantaged areas.

Consent of Schools

Once a school had been selected in Stage 1 above, a letter was sent to the principal of the school detailing the survey's sponsor, NEETF, and purpose of the study. This letter was followed by a phone-call to the principal, who decided whether or not the school would participate in the study. If consent was granted, the principal was then asked to name all of the English classes in the appropriate grade (Stage 2 above). The recruiter then randomly selected the one class of those named that would receive the survey (Stage 3 above).

If consent was not given, a similar school from the packet was selected as a replacement.

Disadvantaged and Non-disadvantaged Status

As this is a survey of students nationwide, with a focus on the differences in students in disadvantaged areas and youth in non-disadvantaged areas, a methodology had to be instituted to determine this status for each school. Disadvantaged or non-disadvantaged status was linked to the ZIP Code of each school. ZIP Codes with 30% or more of the population below the poverty line were designated "disadvantaged" schools; the balance were designated "non-disadvantaged" schools. This approximates the Census definition of "poverty areas," which are Census tracts with 20% or more of the population living below the poverty threshold. With the Census data, 18% of all children live in poverty tracts; with the ZIP Code data, 17% live in poverty areas.

Weighting

The data was weighted back to the original universe, the total school enrollment of students from disadvantaged areas in grades 4 through 12. Four variables were included in the weighting to bring the sample data in line with the total universe data:
  1. level of school (elementary, middle, senior high, K-12);
  2. region (Northeast, Midwest, South, West);
  3. control of school (public, private, parochial)
  4. size (enrollment in grades 4-12: 1-199, 200-499, 500-999, and 1000 or more);

Charts and Tables

Responses were computerized and rounded off to the nearest whole percent. As a result, percentages in certain tables may sometimes total more than 100%. Data concerning demographic subgroups is discussed only when relevant or noteworthy; otherwise, this data is often omitted. Also, in certain tables the results of those who said "don't know" or chose not to answer may have been omitted.
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