This report is based on a telephone survey of 500 adults aged 18 years or older who reside in New York. It complements a national telephone survey of 1,015 adults. The interviews with New York residents were conducted in January 2000 and averaged 28 minutes in length. The interviews were conducted using a random sample of households in New York and a standard, random-digit-dialing technology whereby every household in the region covered had an equal chance of being contacted, including those with unlisted numbers. The margin of error for the 500 randomly selected New York adults is +/- 4 percentage points.
The questionnaire was designed by Public Agenda, and all interpretation of the data reflected in this report was done by Public Agenda. As in all surveys, question order effects and other non-sampling sources of error can sometimes affect results. Steps were taken to minimize these, including extensively pre-testing the survey instrument and randomizing the order in which some questions were asked.