QUALITY OF LIFE SURVEY 2014

1 QUALITY OF life SURVEY 2014 TECHNICAL REPORT CONTENTS PAGE: BACKGROUND 3 RESEARCH DESIGN 6 REPRESENTATIVENESS OF DATA 23 APPENDIX 1 - QUESTIONAIRE 27 APPENDIX 2 0800 NUMBER FAQS 46 APPENDIX 3 WEIGHTING MATRIXES 50 APPENDIX 4 - GLOSSARY 54 BACKGROUND 4 BACKGROUND INTRODUCTION The QUALITY of life 2014 SURVEY was a partnership between six New Zealand Councils. The SURVEY aims to measure residents perceptions in several domains, including: QUALITY of life Health and wellbeing Crime and safety Community, culture and social networks Council decision making processes Environment Public and private transport Lifestyle work and study.

2 This report outlines the technical details of the QUALITY of life SURVEY 2014, including methodology, sampling, weighting and data analysis. SURVEY results can be found in separate reports including the QUALITY of life 2014 Six Councils Report, which presents results for all six participating council areas. BACKGROUND The QUALITY of life SURVEY focuses on collecting a range of social, economic and environmental indicators that are not available from official sources. It was originally part of a wider QUALITY of life Project, initiated by the Local Government Chief Executives Forum in 1999. The purpose of the wider project was to measure the impacts of urbanisation on the wellbeing of residents within the six largest urban territorial authority areas of New Zealand (at that time they were Auckland, Manukau, North Shore, Waitakere, Wellington, and Christchurch City Councils).

3 While the QUALITY of life project is no longer running, the Councils still have a requirement for the SURVEY data. 5 QUALITY of life SURVEY The QUALITY of life SURVEY is carried out every two years. Between 2004 and 2008, the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) partnered with the QUALITY of life project on the QUALITY of life SURVEY in recognition of the close alignment with the Social Report indicators (first released in 2001). In November 2010, the eight councils in the wider Auckland region (Rodney, Papakura and Franklin District Councils, North Shore, Waitakere, Auckland and Manukau City Councils and the Auckland Regional Council) were amalgamated into a unitary Auckland Council, supported by 21 local board areas.

4 Therefore, from 2010 onwards, the SURVEY sampled residents across the whole Auckland region. From 2002 to 2010, the SURVEY was conducted using Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI). This method changed in 2012 to a self-completed online and hard copy SURVEY . OBJECTIVES The objective of the SURVEY is to measure residents perceptions of aspects of living in large urban areas, including contact with neighbours, transport and safety. The SURVEY provides data for: Councils to use as part of their monitoring programmes Public knowledge and research on QUALITY of life issues in New Zealand cities. PARTICIPATING COUNCILS In 2014, the councils participating in the QUALITY of life SURVEY were: Auckland Hutt City Porirua Wellington Christchurch Dunedin.

5 6 RESEARCH DESIGN 7 RESEARCH DESIGN METHODOLOGY The same sequential mixed methodology that was employed in 2012 was used for this SURVEY . Previously, a CATI methodology was used, but the approach was changed in 2012 to reduce costs, and to adopt a higher QUALITY sampling frame. In a sequential mixed methodology, potential respondents are selected from the Electoral Roll, which allows for the inclusion of the majority of residents. Using the Electoral Roll has the advantage of including people who are excluded from CATI methodologies due to not having phone numbers available through telematching (approximately 60% of the population). It is also superior to online panels, which tend to have limited number of panelists and only include residents who access the internet.

6 In this methodology, respondents are sent a letter in the mail inviting them to complete the SURVEY online. After a period of time, and a reminder postcard, all respondents who have still not completed their SURVEY are sent a hard copy questionnaire to complete. This ensures that those who do not have internet access are still able to participate, while also encouraging those who can to complete online (the most cost effective method). A final postcard is sent approximately a week later, encouraging those who have not yet returned their questionnaire to do so. The sequential mixed methodology allows respondents to complete the SURVEY in their own time, at their own pace and either online or hard copy according to their preference.

7 Up until 2012, respondents were aged 15 years or older. From 2012 onwards, only those on the Electoral Roll were included, so all respondents were aged 18 and over. In this method, all individuals on the Electoral Roll are eligible for selection (as opposed to just those who are successfully matched with a phone number approximately 40% in the previous CATI surveys). Changing from a CATI methodology to an online methodology means the time series of the QUALITY of life SURVEY was broken in 2012. Therefore the results from this measure can only be directly compared to the results from 2012, as changes in the results may be due to the methodology changing rather than being a change in result overtime.

8 8 THE 2014 METHODOLOGY An overview of the research process for the QUALITY of life SURVEY 2014 is shown below: The research took place between 09 June 2014, when the first invitation letters were sent out, and 28 July 2014 when the SURVEY closed. SAMPLE DESIGN Sampling Frame The Electoral Roll records the addresses of the majority of New Zealanders aged 18 and over. Potential respondents were selected from the Roll. Statistics New Zealand meshblocks were used to identify areas where there were high incidences of people belonging to Pacific and Asian ethnic groups. These meshblocks were then included in the random sample selection. M ori descent from the Electoral Roll was used to identify those with a high possibility of having M ori ethnicity, with title being used for identifying gender.

9 The age of the respondent was gained from the Electoral Roll data and used to identify the respondents age group for classification and quota purposes. Sample The sample was a probabilistic sample of the population of the six council areas. 9 To boost responses from Pacific Islanders, who tend to be hard to reach, Pacific respondents from the last wave of the SURVEY were re-contacted to participate in this wave of the SURVEY . The sample was targeted to include 2,000 residents from Auckland, and 500 residents from the remaining five participating cities. 10 A summary of the target sample, achieved sample and maximum margins of error follows: Location Sample Target Sample Achieved Maximum margin of error (95% level of confidence)

10 Auckland 2,000 2, 441 % Hutt City 500 569 % Porirua 500 611 % Wellington 500 647 % Christchurch 500 488