About ILGARD / News

Ohio University
College of Arts and Sciences Forum
Volume 15 Number 2
Fall 1998

ILGARD Survey Research Benefits Students and Region

Did you know that more than 50 percent of small businesses surveyed in southeast Ohio offer their employees health insurance? Did you know that an estimated 139 million in revenues are generated statewide by visitors to Ohio's wildlife areas? Did you know that 80 percent of Ohio Appalachia high school seniors surveyed stated they wanted to attend college, but only one-third of this same group is likely to enroll in college the following Fall?

The Institute for Local Government Administration and Rural Development at Ohio University has been finding answers to these questions and many others since its founding in 1981. ILGARD provides research to various nonprofit organizations. consortiums, counties, and municipalities in Ohio, allowing them to successfully design programs and identify ways to use their limited resources more wisely.

"We at ILGARD try to add value to government and nonprofit organizations in our area by helping them achieve their goals." explained Director Mark Weinberg. "We have had the same two missions from the beginning: to supply research to area governments and nonprofit agencies, and to supply education to students."

Much of the research supplied by ILGARD starts with surveys, and ILGARD employs students From Ohio University to become involved in all phases of the process. Survey research is a scientific process of analyzing the issues with which the survey is concerned, defining those issues in questions, posing those questions to a representative sample of the population in the survey area, analyzing the data, and finally, preparing a report of the results. Students conduct the interviews, usually by phone, and enter the data into computer databases at ILGARD but often are involved in other aspects, including survey design and testing, writing the computer programs for the statistical analysis, and helping to prepare the reports.

Terry Murphy, ILGARD marketing and communications manager, said that she is impressed by how staff members recognize that the educational mission of ILGARD is as important as serving the regions projects. "The students get to participate in real-world work experiences at ILGARD." she said.

Mike Finney. associate director of information technology and data at ILGARD. noted that students also learn concrete skills such as computer software applications and project management, as well as other skills such as being able to communicate and work with others, and maintaining a good presence while interacting with local officials and the public. At the minimum, the students bring energy and creative ideas to our projects,' he said.

Students from various backgrounds and disciplines are employed at ILGARD, giving them valuable experience and allowing them to become involved in the community outside the classroom. Michelle Kaczor, a graduate student in environmental studies who received Ohio University's outstanding graduate student award for 1997-98, has worked at ILGARD since September 1996. Initially, I was involved with the development of health databases and data analysis regarding various rural health issues being researched at ILGARD," Ms. Kaczor said.

I co-authored teen pregnancy profiles for four rural Appalachian Ohio counties. These documents were part of the Family and Children First Council projects in the counties. Since June 1997 I have been involved with the Monday Creek Restoration Project as an outreach coordinator. I am part of a team developing a management plan for a southeast Ohio watershed. Seeing the impact that one person can have when involved with a dynamic team has been the greatest reward of working at ILGARD. We have the opportunity to be more than just student researchers and can contribute to the community as we learn. The professional development that goes along with this process has been a tremendous personal asset. It has helped me acquire the skills needed to thrive in the workplace- teamwork, collaboration, strategic planning, and the application of technical research to social/environmental problems.

"Students get the opportunity to work in a real-world environment on real projects, in teams, and with deadlines," stated Dr. Weinberg. He added that the students are able to bring new techniques, skills, and ideas that they learn in the classroom to the projects "and become proficient at them through working on these projects."

"Our clients say they are always impressed with the presentation and quality of our research. In large part, this is a reflection on our students," said Mr. Finney. Every year, ILGARD employs forty to fifty students, both undergraduate and graduate, from such disciplines as economics, geology, geography, journalism, environmental science, civil engineering, and political science.

One recent survey in which students played a major role was the Strategic Planning Needs Assessment Project for the District 7 Area Agency on Aging. ILGARD conducted a survey of more than 1,000 elderly citizens in ten southeast Ohio counties in order to determine what services older citizens require to maintain independent living. Students phoned a sample of registered voters over the age of sixty in those counties and asked them if they needed help with such things as shopping for groceries, who helps them with those things now, and who they would accept help from in the future.

Other surveys that have tested student skills involved an assessment of noise barrier effectiveness along 1-71 in areas of Hamilton County and citizen satisfaction with the Zanesville city government and services. Upon completion of a noise barrier along the highway in Blue Ash, Montgomery, and Madiera, some residents were pleased with the level of noise reduction. Other residents who lived in the area of the project, however, complained that noise levels actually increased. ILGARD conducted surveys of residents along the entire length of the project to determine exactly where the problem areas were. Ohio University engineering faculty members then used this data, as well as sound measurements, to study the physical aspects of those problem areas, and the state is now working to alleviate them.

Zanesville residents were asked to respond to a telephone survey that aimed to measure their level of satisfaction with such things as delivery of city services and the level of cooperation within and between city departments. Zanesville officials are incorporating the results of the citizen survey into their strategic planning, and ILGARD is assisting the city in identifying goals and developing plans to address citizen concerns.

Kerry Myford, a second-year graduate student majoring in public administration, said that working on projects such as these has developed her expertise in computer applications, survey design, project management, and other such marketable skills. "ILGARD has provided me with the experience which will be vital to my chosen career," Ms. Myford said.

Dr. Weinberg added: "We have a zillion great student stories, everything from students going on to important and rewarding jobs to one former student employee meeting his wife while working here." The employee is Mike Jacoby, a research assistant at ILGARD from 1987 to 1988, who stated that his experience there "was absolutely instrumental in allowing me to get into my current field." Mr. Jacoby is now a business development specialist working for the Ohio Department of Economic Development.

One recent survey that took students out of the classroom and around the state was the fall 1997 Socioeconomic Study of Ohio's Wildlife Areas for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife. For this research, over 15,000 surveys were placed on the windshields of vehicles in twenty-three Ohio wildlife areas. Five thousand surveys were returned and analyzed by Ohio University economists and ILGARD to determine what impact Ohio's wildlife areas have on local economies. Students found that visitors to Ohio's wildlife areas are involved in a variety of activities, ranging from bird watching and outdoor photography, to mushroom foraging, fishing, and hunting. They identified visitors from other states as far away as Florida, Mississippi, and New Jersey. The results of this study are expected to play a role in future state funding decisions for the Department of Natural Resources.

Students working on ILGARD research projects also reap rewards beyond job experience and helping their community, according to Sara Boyd, ILGARD research associate. "Seeing what is involved in survey research and working through the difficulties associated with it makes the students more informed about other research they see in the media, and this allows them to view some with a more cautious and critical eye," she said.

This article was originally written by Rob Fanjoy, graduate student in the College of Communication, and was added to by the Forum writer.