Survey Methodology
A self-administered questionnaire was mailed in May and June to approximately 1,050 households in the Nebraska Panhandle using mailing lists designed to identify households that were new to the area in the last five years. Responses from those who had moved within the Panhandle and those who moved more than five years ago were excluded. Our return rate for usable surveys was 33-percent. A total of 321 new movers to the Nebraska Panhandle region since 2000 are the basis for the following summary.
The eleven counties included in the sample were Banner, Box Butte, Cheyenne, Dawes, Deuel, Garden, Kimball, Morrill, Scotts Bluff, Sheridan, and Sioux. The 14-page questionnaire included questions pertaining to the new residents’ background, reasons for moving, decision making tools used and views of their current community.
Delphi Methodolgy
In this study, researchers will investigate the extent of such strategies and marketing programs, both within the Panhandle study area and throughout Nebraska and its neighboring states. Using state and regional economic development association membership directories, a multi-staged Delphi Survey will be conducted to assess the array of resident-attraction strategies currently being used and the practitioners' assessment of their success.
The Delphi Method of data collection and analysis is a structured survey for collecting and synthesizing information and knowledge for an identified group of experts. Using a series of questionnaires in a controlled feedback loop (of opinions), the issue(s) under investigation can be moved toward some group consensus. In other words, the techniques can achieve some group judgment without the biases that can be introduced by more out-spoken and influential opinion leaders.
This study will use a series of iterations (at least two) to identify the various recruitment strategies being used and the perceived effectiveness of such efforts. More specifically, the economic development professionals/practitioners being surveyed will be asked to identify particular targeted groups and strategies and the reasoning behind those efforts. Moreover, various scalar measures will be employed to allow the respondents to assess the effectiveness of such efforts relative to the resources/costs expended. Given this information, the researchers will inform the full group of respondents of the previous iteration's results and allow for their response to the new evidence. By using this technique, the centralizing tendencies of the economic development professionals' insights will be achieved.
The survey process will be conducted electronically and will involve a sample of approximately 1,200 community development association members across Nebraska and four adjoining Great Plains states ( Colorado , Kansas , South Dakota and Wyoming ). Many of this membership are presently employed as city administrators, economic development directors, and active community development volunteers. Therefore, the expertise of the surveyed group regarding recruitment/retention strategies is extensive.