Community and the Internet

A Collaborative Project between the
U. S. Department of Commerce
and the
Blacksburg Electronic Village

Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey of your attitudes toward your local community and your use of the electronic media. As we indicated in our earlier letter, you have been randomly selected from among the residents of Montgomery County to participate in this study. YOUR RESPONSE TO THIS SURVEY IS VERY IMPORTANT. The information from this survey will help Montgomery County develop communication channels that are more responsive to the needs and interests of residents. The results will not be used for marketing or commercial purposes. This is a research study sponsored by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Blacksburg Electronic Village. The results of this survey will be kept strictly confidential.  The number on the back of this survey is used only to track returned surveys.  In no way will your name and address be connected with your answers, or shared with anyone outside the research team.  Please take your time in answering the questions and return the survey as soon as possible. The survey should take approximately 20 minutes to complete and you may use either pen or pencil to record your answers. Please record your answers by writing directly on the survey form.

The survey should be completed by the adult (over 17 years of age) in your household who has had the most recent birthday.  If this person is not available, please have any adult in your household complete the survey.

When you have completed filling out the survey, just rip of this outer page
and drop the completed survey in any mailbox.  NO POSTAGE IS NECESSARY TO RETURN THE COMPLETED SURVEY TO US.

For further information about this survey or the Community Networks
Project, please contact:

Andrea Kavanaugh, Ph.D.
(540) 231-5488

THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO COMPLETE THIS SURVEY.  YOUR ANSWERS ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO US.  THE INFORMATION FROM THIS SURVEY WILL HELP IMPROVE THE WAY THE BLACKSBURG ELECTRONIC VILLAGE MEETS THE NEEDS OF YOUR COMMUNITY.

PLEASE TEAR-OFF THIS OUTER PAGE AND DROP THE COMPLETED SURVEY IN ANY MAILBOX.

NO POSTAGE IS NECESSARY TO RETURN THE SURVEY.

THANK YOU AGAIN FOR YOUR TIME AND HELP WITH THIS IMPORTANT PROJECT.

We would like to first ask you some questions about your local community.  You may use a pen or a pencil to answer these questions.

1) What do you call the local area where you live?  _____________________________________________

2) How many years have you lived in your local community? _____

Would you say you frequently, occasionally, seldom or never… (please circle your answer):
3) keep up with the news in your local community?	
	Frequently 	Occasionally 	 Seldom 	Never

4) have ideas for improving things in your local community?	
	Frequently	Occasionally	Seldom	Never

5) get together with people who know what’s going on in your local   
    community?
	Frequently	Occasionally	Seldom	Never

6) work to bring about changes in your local community?	
	Frequently	Occasionally	Seldom	Never

7) If for some reason, you had to move away from your local 
    community and live somewhere else, how would you feel about the   
    move? (please circle your answer)

	Very	Somewhat 	Neutral 	 Somewhat 	Very 
	Happy	Happy		Unhappy	Unhappy
	   
8) How many times have you moved in the last five years? _____	
9) When you need help, approximately how many people in your 
     local community can you turn to for support (please circle your 
     answer)?
	No one	Hardly Anyone	Just a Few People	Many People

10) Generally speaking, would you say that in the local community 
       where you live (please circle):
	Most people	Some people
can be trusted	can be trusted

Only a few people	Almost no people
	can be trusted	can be trusted

In this next set of questions, we are interested in your membership in different types of community groups.  Please indicate with an “x” in the right-hand columns if you or any other member of your household participate in these types of groups.  

	Type of Community Group 	Self	Other 
	Household 
	Member

11) Local Church or place of worship	_______	_______

12) Local service organizations like  
	the YMCA, Ruritan, Kiwanis, etc.	_______	_______

13) Local club, sports team, 
       or hobby group	_______	_______

14) Member of PTA or School 
	Volunteer	_______	_______

15) Volunteer for community 
       organizations	_______	_______

16) Participate in informal social 
	groups (book clubs, carpools, 
	baby-sitting circles, etc.)	_______	_______

17) Participate in any other type of 
	community group	_______	_______

90) Are you planning to vote in the next presidential election?	
	Yes	No
91) Do you rent or own your home?
	Rent	Own
92) Which of the following income categories would best describe   
      your total household income before taxes?  We guarantee your   
     answers are completely anonymous.  Please place an “x” next to 
     the appropriate category.

	_____	under $10,000 
	_____	between $10,001 and $20,000	
	_____	between $20,001 and $30,000	
	_____	between $30,001 and $40,000	
	_____	between $40,001 and $50,000 
	_____	between $50,001 and $60,000
	_____	between $60,001 and $70,000 
	_____	between $70,001 and $80,000 
	_____	between $80,001 and $90,000 
	_____	between $90,001 and $100,000 
	_____ 	greater than $100,000
93) Is there anything else you would like to tell us about your  
       community or your internet use?  

69) To obtain educational materials	1	2	3	4	5
70) For distance learning	1	2	3	4	5
71) To gain knowledge		1	2	3	4	5
72) To save time 		1	2	3	4	5
73) To start a business		1	2	3	4	5
Please circle which response comes closest to your own views.
74)	Since getting on the Internet, have you become more, less, or equally involved in issues that interest you?

	Much More 	More 	Equally 	Less	 Much Less 
	
75)	Since getting on the Internet, have you become more, less, or equally connected with people like you?

	Much More 	More 	Equally 	Less 	Much Less 
					
76)	Since getting on the Internet, have you become more, less, or equally involved with your local community?
	
	Much More 	More 	Equally	Less 	Much Less 
   	
77)	Since getting on the Internet, have you become more, less or equally connected with a diversity of people?

	Much More 	More 	Equally	Less	Much Less 
	
78)	Since getting on the Internet, have you attended more, less, or equal numbers of meetings and events of local organizations to which you belong?

     	Much More 	More 	Equally	Less	Much Less

35) From which location do you access the Internet MOST frequently?
  	__________________________________________
36) In terms of years and months, approximately how long have you  
       been using the Internet? ________ Years ________ Months
37) How experienced are you as a computer user (please circle)?
	Very	Somewhat	Only a little	Not at all 
38) How experienced are you as a user of computer communication 
       systems such as the Internet?

	Very	Somewhat	Only a little	Not at all 

39) Have you heard of the Blacksburg Electronic Village? 
		Yes	No
40) Do you ever use the Blacksburg Electronic Village? 
		Yes	No
41) Do you know anyone who is a user of the Blacksburg  
      Electronic Village? 
       		Yes	No
In this next set of questions, we are interested in how you, personally, use the Internet to communicate with other people.  Please indicate whether you Frequently (Freq), Occasionally (Occas), Sometimes (Some), Rarely (Rarely), or Never (Never), use the Internet to communicate with:

42) Family members in your local area	
Freq.	Occas.	Some.	Rarely	Never
43) Family members not in your local area
	Freq.	 Occas.	Some.     	Rarely    	Never

44) Friends in your local area
	Freq.	 Occas.	Some.     	Rarely    	Never
45) Friends not in your local area
	Freq.	 Occas. 	Some.     	Rarely    	Never
46) Co-Workers	
	Freq.	Occas.	Some.     	Rarely    	Never
47) Members of your church or place of worship
	Freq.	Occas.	Some.	Rarely	Never
48) Members of local service organizations	
	Freq.	Occas.	Some.     	Rarely    	Never
49) Members of organizations such as sport teams, clubs, or hobby 
       groups
	Freq.	Occas.	 Some.     	Rarely    	Never
50) Members of the PTA or other school volunteers
	Freq.	Occas.	Some.     	Rarely    	Never
51) Teachers or Principals of local schools
	Freq.	 Occas.	Some.     	Rarely    	Never
52) Members of informal social groups such as carpools, book clubs, 
       or baby-sitting circles	

	Freq.	 Occas.	Some.     	Rarely    	Never
This next set of questions deals with the use of the Internet for various types of on-line political activities.  Please indicate by circling if you Frequently (Freq), Occasionally (Occas), Sometimes (Some), Rarely (Rarely), or Never (Never) take part in the activity.

53) Organize or sign an on-line petition	
	Freq.	Occas. 	Some.     	Rarely    	Never

54) Organize or attend an online public meeting
	Freq.	Occas. 	Some.     	Rarely    	Never
55) E-mail a government official
	Freq.	Occas.	Some.     	Rarely    	Never
56) Discuss political issues on-line
	Freq.	 Occas.	Some.     	Rarely    	Never
57) Volunteer or work for a party or candidate	
	Freq.	 Occas.	Some.     	Rarely    	Never
58) Try to influence how other people vote	
	Freq.	 Occas.	Some.     	Rarely    	Never
59) Obtain political information on-line
	Freq.     	Occas.	Some.     	Rarely    	Never
60) Visit a candidate’s web-site
	Freq.	 Occas.	Some.     	Rarely    	Never
Next, please  indicate how helpful the internet is for a variety  of information or activities.  For each activity please circle whether the Internet is Not at all Helpful (1) to Very Helpful (5) for each activity.

	 Not at all		Very
	    Helpful		Helpful 
61) To obtain local news and information	1	2	3	4	5
62) To obtain health and safety information	1	2	3	4	5
63) To obtain civic affairs information	1	2	3	4	5
64) To play on-line games	1	2	3	4	5
65) For shopping	1	2	3	4	5
66) For finding job listings	1	2	3	4	5
67) For developing computer skills	1	2	3	4	5
68) For training or on-line tutorials	1	2	3	4	5
	
24) Discuss political issues
	Freq.	Occas.	Some.	Rarely	Never
25) Volunteer or work for a party or candidate	
	Freq.    	Occas.	 Some.	Rarely	Never
26) Try to influence how other people vote
	Freq.	Occas	Some.     	Rarely 	Never
27) Distribute political information
	Freq.     	Occas.	 Some.     	Rarely	Never

In this next set of questions we are interested in your use of communication technologies and the Internet.

28) Do you have a personal computer
       in your home?	Yes	No
29)  Do you own a cellular telephone	Yes	No
30)  Do you have access to the Internet	Yes	No
(IF NO, PLEASE SKIP TO QUESTION 79; OTHERWISE, PLEASE CONTINUE)

31)	Do you have Internet access from 
        your home?	Yes	No
32)	Do you have Internet access from 
        your workplace?	Yes	No
33)	Do you access the Internet from public 
        locations (library, local school, or 
        community center)?	Yes	No
34) Do you access the Internet from any other 
        location (friend’s home or cyber café)	Yes	No
FOR ALL RESPONDENTS – PLEASE ANSWER THE LAST FEW QUESTIONS

79)	If you read a newspaper, please write down the names of the newspapers you read on a regular basis?
__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________
80)	Please indicate by marking with an “x” which of the following responses best describes how frequently you read a newspaper.

_____	I read multiple newspapers a day
_____	I read at least one newspaper a day
	_____	I read at least one newspaper a couple of times a week
	_____ 	I read at least one newspaper once a week
	_____	I read at least one newspaper a couple of times a month
	_____	I read a newspaper once a month or less
	_____	I never read a newspaper  (SKIP TO QUESTION 82)
81)	Also, if you read a newspaper, please indicate by marking with an “x” whether or not you typically read that section when you read a newspaper.
	_____	Local News	_____	Comic Strips, Puzzles
	_____ 	National News	_____ 	Business Section
	_____ 	International News	_____ 	Advertisements	
	_____ 	Entertainment/	_____	 Sports
		Lifestyle Features
	_____	Editorial and Opinion Pages

82)	Do you subscribe to cable television or a satellite television service?			Yes		No
83)	Please indicate by marking with an “x” the highest level of education you have completed.
	
_____ 8th Grade or less
_____ Some high school
_____ Completed high school or trade school
_____ Some college/associate degree/community college
_____ Completed a 4-year university degree
_____ Some graduate work
_____ Completed graduate school or professional degree

84) What is your occupation?  
___________________________________________________

85) In what year were you born?  _______________________
86) How many children of age 17 or under live in your household?  
___________________________________________________
87) Are you a Female or a Male?	Female	Male
88) Are you a registered voter?	Yes	No
89) Did you vote in the last municipal or town election?	Yes	No

Now, thinking of yourself, consider all of the organizations and social groups in which you participate. 

18) Would you say that, on average, you personally attend a total of... 
       (please circle  your response)

	1 or fewer meetings or events a week. 
	Between 2 and 4 meetings or events a week
	Between 5 and 7 meetings or events a week 
	Between 8 and 10 meetings or events a week
	11 or more meetings or events a week

19) Now, thinking of all the members of your household, including        
      yourself, how  frequently do you all attend meetings or events of  
      these organizations (please circle your response)?

	Frequently	Occasionally	Sometimes 	Rarely	Never

This next set of questions asks about your involvement in a variety of political activities. Please indicate by circling if you Frequently (Freq.), Occasionally (Occas), Sometimes (Some), Rarely (Rarely), or Never (Never), take part in that activity.

20) Organize or sign a petition	
	Freq.	Occas.	Some.	Rarely	Never	
21) Organize or attend a public meeting
	Freq.	Occas.	Some.	Rarely	Never
22) Write or call a government official
	Freq.	 Occas.	Some. 	Rarely 	Never
23) Attend a political rally or speech
	Freq.	Occas. 	Some.	Rarely 	Never
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