Georgia: Methodology

Sampling Methodology

Government sample:

The survey of government managers was administered between April and August of 2003. The eight-page survey was pre-tested by staff of the Carl Vinson Institute of Government. The chief administrative officer (i.e., clerk, manager) of each Georgia municipality and county was sent a postcard, followed by two or more mailed surveys, reminder postcards and phone calls. Once duplicate and incomplete surveys were removed, a sample of 311 was produced, representing 85 of Georgia's 162 counties and consolidated city/county governments, and 226 of the state's 499 incorporated cities. The study yielded an overall response rate of 47%. The responses can be said to represent the entire state of Georgia at margins of error of +/- 4%, with a confidence level of 95%.

Nonprofit sample:

The same survey questionnaire was mailed to nonprofit executive directors between January-May 2004. The sampling frame included all Georgia nonprofit organizations registered as public benefit charities under the IRS code 501-c-3. This list was purged to exclude most religious and grantmaking institutions under the assumption that these organizations would be unlikely to work closely with local governments. Based on this list, a random sample of 1,061 nonprofit organizations was obtained from the full sampling frame of 3,880 organizations. These organizations were sent a paper survey following the same procedures used above to boost response rates. A total of 285 nonprofit organizations completed the survey, resulting in a response rate of 26.8%. Responses from this sample can be said to represent the entire sampling frame of 3,880 nonprofits at margins of error of +/- 4%, with a confidence level of 95%.

Secondary data:

Additional data were obtained to map community, governmental and nonprofit features such as budget size, population levels and changes, and a community's rural/urban nature. Sources were the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, U.S. Bureau of the Census, the International City/County Management Association, and the Georgia Nonprofit Resource Center . For a full description of the data, contact the author.

Generalizability of results:

Readers should exercise caution in applying the results of this study beyond Georgia . The study can be said to represent the opinions of Georgia public and nonprofit managers at a high degree of confidence, but cannot be assumed to represent the characteristics of public-private partnerships in other states, or among other sets of partners. The reader should also note that this study compares two independent samples of public and nonprofit managers, and does not compare the opinions of public and nonprofit managers within the same partnership.