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Bader, C., Day, L. E., & Gordon, A. (2020, March 4). Chapman Survey of American Fears, Wave 3 (2016).
Summary
Collected in 2016, the Chapman Survey of American Fears, Wave 3 (CSAF) is an annual survey. The survey includes core demographic items, and measures of religion and politics. However the survey's primary focus is asking questions designed to determine the extent to which Americans fear or worry about life events, governmental policy, crime and victimization, natural and man-made disasters, different spaces and other phenomena. Waves 1, 2, and 3 also include items related to beliefs about crime (has crime increased over the last 20 years, possible explanations for criminal behavior), media consumption and scientific attitudes.
Starting with the pre-weights of assignees, respondents are weighted to look like the ages 18+ U.S. population on the standard weighting variables listed below:
Gender (Male, Female) by Age (18-29, 30-44, 45-59, 60+) Race/Ethnicity (White/Non-Hispanic, Black/Non-Hispanic, Other/Non-Hispanic, Hispanic, 2+ Races/Non-Hispanic) Census Region (Northeast, Midwest, South, West) by Metropolitan Status (Metro/Non-Metro) Education (Less than High School, High School, Some College, Bachelor or higher) Household Income (under $25K, $25-$49,999, $50K-$74,999, $75K+) Household with Internet access (Yes, No)
Weights are trimmed and scaled to sum to the sample size of respondents (weight; N=1,511).
Once assigned to a survey, members receive a notification email letting them know there is a new survey available for them to take. This email notification contains a link that sends them to the survey questionnaire. No login name or password is required. The field period depends on the client's needs and can range anywhere from a few hours to several weeks.
After three days, automatic email reminders are sent to all non-responding panel members in the sample. If email reminders do not generate a sufficient response, an automated telephone reminder call can be initiated. The usual protocol is to wait at least three to four days after the email reminder before calling. To assist panel members with their survey taking, each individual has a personalized "home page" that lists all the surveys that were assigned to that member and have yet to be completed.
GfK also operates an ongoing modest incentive program to encourage participation and create member loyalty. Members can enter special raffles or can be entered into special sweepstakes with both cash rewards and other prizes to be won. The typical survey commitment for panel members is one survey per week or four per month with duration of 10 to 15 minutes per survey. In the case of longer surveys, an additional incentive is typically provided.
Sampling Procedures
The GfK Group (GfK, formerly Knowledge Networks) conducted the National Survey of Fears - Wave 3 on behalf of Chapman Univeristy. Specifically, the study examines the extent to which respondents fear crime, terrorist attacks, national disasters, personal crises and other phenomena. The survey was conducted using a sample from KnowledgePanel, a probability based web panel designed to be representative of the general population of the United States. The initial panel was recruited using random-digit-dialing, but is maintained using the U.S. Postal Service's Delivery Sequence File that includes households without wired telephones. Selected households are invited to participate in a web-based panel study. Potential respondents who agree to participate but lack the necessary equipment or Internet connection are provided a laptop computer and/or Internet service connection by GfK. Once recruited for the panel study, participants receive unique log-in information for accessing online surveys.
The target population was general population adults, age 18+, English language survey takers.
2,669 participants were sampled to complete the main survey. 1,511 participants completed the survey, yielding a response rate of 56.61 percent. All cases who completed the final survey were determined valid.
Principal Investigators
The CSAF, Wave 3 was collected with the help of a multi-disciplinary team of faculty and students. The three Principal Investigators are:
Dr. Christopher Bader, Professor of Sociology, Chapman University Dr. L. Edward Day, Associate Professor of Sociology, Chapman University Dr. Ann Gordon, Associate Professor of Political Science, Chapman University
