Recent Projects

A few of the more recent survey projects conducted by MCSR are described below. For additional information, contact MCSR director Rossana Armson by phone at 612-627-4282 or by e-mail.

• Freshwater Exotic Species Invasion. The Minnesota Sea Grant College Program wanted to design education programs for boaters. As a first step, they needed to find out what boaters already know about exotic species, particularly zebra mussels and Eurasian water milfoil. MCSR conducted a survey of licensed boaters in three states: Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin. A total of 1,545 boaters completed mail or telephone surveys.
  
• Pollution Prevention Surveys. The Minnesota Office of Waste Management has conducted several surveys of industrial facilities known to be involved in pollution prevention activities. These businesses were asked to evaluate the performance of state pollution prevention programs, the impact of regulation, criteria used to evaluate pollution prevention options, and related issues.
  
• Judicial Evaluation. The Hennepin County Bar Association conducts a biennial survey of its members about judges. The 1993 survey form listed all current members of the Fourth District Bench who will stand for election in 1994. Performance evaluation categories included fairness and lack of bias, legal expertise in civil or criminal cases, case management skills, judicial demeanor, and retention. The purposes of this survey were to provide confidential evaluations to the judges, and to provide the public with relevant information regarding the re-election of judges.
  
• Reducing Welfare Fraud. The Ramsey County Community Human Services Department wanted to quantify the extent of welfare fraud. As one part of this project, MCSR conducted telephone surveys of a random sample of benefit recipients in Ramsey County, which pays benefits electronically, and in Hennepin County, which currently pays benefits by check. Questions on the survey focused on the likelihood that other people engage in welfare fraud.
  
• Violence Education. A survey of recent graduates about their professional education related to violence and abuse was conducted for the Minnesota Higher Education Coordinating Board, with funding provided by the 1992 Omnibus Crime Bill. It was conducted to provide information to a task force charged with developing recommendations to improve professional education curricula. The survey found that violence prevention curricula are viewed as inadequate in several areas. Subsequently, the Minnesota legislature provided funding to establish a Higher Education Center Against Violence and Abuse, which is based at the University of Minnesota.
  
• Library User Surveys. Since 1988, MCSR has been providing assistance to a faculty member in Information and Decision Sciences on surveys related to libraries. Most recently, MCSR completed patron surveys for the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh and the Atlanta—Fulton County Public Library. In addition, MCSR conducted two pilot studies and the data analysis for a national assessment of the public libraries missions' in society, funded by the United States Department of Education.
  
• University of Minnesota Administrative Surveys. The University of Minnesota needs to collect information for administrative and planning purposes. A number of surveys were conducted by MCSR for University administration including: (1) surveys of civil service employees about job satisfaction, conducted for the Department of Human Resources; (2) surveys of high-ability applicants and minority applicants to the University, conducted for the Office of Admissions; (3) a census of University departments about computer equipment and computing and information service needs; (4) an evaluation of a career development pilot program for civil service employees; (5) a survey about disability accommodations, conducted for the Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action; and (6) a survey of University of Minnesota alumni about their satisfaction with the alumni newspaper, conducted for University Relations.