Summary of Composting Survey Conducted in ... - StopWaste.org

A. METHODOLOGYThe following executive summary highlights results of the October 2005 public opinion surveyconducted by the Evans/McDonough Company (EMC) for the Alameda County WasteManagement Authority (ACWMA) on composting in Alameda County.A telephone survey of 512 residents of Alameda County was conducted by trained, professionalinterviewers October 19-27, 2005:• 162 respondents were selected from a list of users who had purchased a compost orworm bin through ACWMA between 1991 and September 2005. The margin of errorfor the List survey is plus or minus 7.7 percentage points at the 95% confidence interval;• 350 respondents were selected using a representative and randomly drawn sample ofAlameda County residents. This method is known as Random Digit Dial (RDD). Themargin of error for the RDD survey is plus or minus 5.2 percentage points at the 95%confidence interval.Respondents were screened to ensure that they lived in Alameda County, and with the RDDsample, were above 18 years of age, and had a yard or garden at their place of residence. Thisfinal screen was utilized in order to ensure that the survey reached the most likely audience forcomposting (those with yards) rather than ensuring a complete sample of apartment dwellerswithout yards but with extensive interior gardens (the most likely audience for worm bins).Page 3ACWMAEMC 05-3307Composting Survey Summary (Draft)