Community Concerns - THE RESULTS ARE IN!

Below, please find the results as received from the Wicomico Neighborhood Congress Community Concerns Committee. Kudos goes out to Dot Truitt, John Bonas and Dexter Lunsford who head up the committee. The information and data that has been compiled is outstanding. Thank you also goes out to all WNC members who participated.

WNC Community Concerns Questionnaire Results

An analysis of the results of the 28 questionnaires we received was done. Most of the returns were from Salisbury, but some were from outside of the city: Hebron (1), Fruitland (2), Delmar (1), Riverton (1), and one each from Hunting Park and Nutter's Crossing that we assume are not within the Salisbury City limits.

The raw data was placed on an Excel spreadsheet and the means calculated for the responses to each question, along with the standard deviations. Some respondents didn't answer all of the questions, while a few gave answers to the "other" with explanation; most did not. We included all answers and non-answers in the analysis. (We have not included the explanations to the "other" in the analysis, but the raw data are available.)

We believe that our analysis of the means will offer a quick understanding of the results, which follows below: (Consider that the "3" response to a question is a mid-point response. Respondents who give greater than 3 feel somewhat strongly or strongly about a question; those who answer with less than 3, feel somewhat less than strongly or weakly about a question. The number "5" is the highest response level, while "1" is the lowest.)

Highest Means

Question
#3e: 4.18 -- Violent crime (dislike)
#4e: 4.04 -- Develop coalitions
#2a: 3.93 -- Rural character (like)
#4a: 3.82 -- Lobby politicians
#2b: 3.61 -- Access to recreation (like)
#4c: 3.57 -- Letters to government officials
#4d2: 3.57 -- Seek grants
#4d1: 3.39 -- Monitor criminal justice
#2c: 3.32 -- Friendly people (like)
#2e: 3.25 -- Educational opportunities (like)

Lowest Means

Question
#4b: 1.75 -- Mount demonstrations
#3g: 2.46 -- Government corruption (dislike)
#3b: 2.50 -- Water/sewer fees (dislike)
#2d: 2.54 -- Cultural attractions (like)
#3c: 2.64 -- Lack of cultural attractions (dislike)
#3f: 2.68 -- Lack of public transport (dislike)
#3a: 2.79 -- Taxes (dislike)
#2f: 2.96 -- Community spirit (like)
#3d: 2.96 -- Excess development (dislike)

Our conclusions:

1. We received 28 responses from a total WNC membership of more than 60. Clearly, many did not respond to the questionnaire. We ought to try for more responses.

2. Most of the respondents were from Salisbury or its immediate surrounding areas. This means that a lot of the issues affecting Salisbury also affect the "suburbs." Exceptions to this may come from the outlier locations such as Hebron and Riverton. Therefore, a majority of the responses may be similar reflecting City attitudes and concerns.

3. More should be done to attract membership from other parts of the county; the further from Salisbury, the better. This would enable the WNC to obtain a better cross-section of views from all reaches of Wicomico County.

Data Compiled by Dot Truitt and John Bonas

July 27, 2010