Nishma Survey

Why I don’t understand this survey part 1 I don't understand is how the survey has statistical significance. In other words, because this email was forwarded to synagogues and from synagogues to congregants, there is no way of knowing if those who responded were a mini picture of the broader population (a true sample) or not. For example, if you send all the shuls parsha sheets with certain ideological content to give out and in the parsha sheet there is an ad that says, "please let us know what you think of this parsha sheet for a chance to win a gift card." Would you be able to decided what everyone in the shul thinks about the ideological issues raised in the parsha sheet by what the people who call in say? Maybe half the shul didn't even look at the parsha sheet. Of those who looked, only half (25% of whole) noticed this ad (shabbos!). Of those who noticed the ad, only half (12.5% of the whole) decided to call. Of those who decided to call only half(6.25%) remembered to call. So what do you really know? You know what 1/16 of shul thinks. They may be the most motivated, true, they may be the "those who show" and make decisions, true, but that it. Unless you have a true random sampling of population, I have trouble understanding what you can learn for certain. If for instance, there are 50,000 orthodox Jews and a random 10% of them (or a population adjusted) 10% got the survey and of those who got it, 30% responded. Then you could calculate roughly something about the population as a whole. 1) In the into language seemingly sent to shul’s a. The ou’s exact involvement is not made clear b. Who Nishma is and why they should be trusted is never stated c. No body (including even the OU) is listed as some sort of institutional review board (IRB to approve the research). d. It is not explained on the onset how the survey can be both anonymous but yet gift cards can be given out e. There is no email or contact info at the onset for any concerns f. – when you are dealing with people’s private answers all of these are quite odd. 2) on the survey itself a. page 1 i. it says that, “The aggregated results will be clearly communicated to both synagogue leaders and congregants.” It didn’t say that in the intro which makes me, as a respondent, quite disturbed as to who will see what and how private this is? ii. It says,” The survey is conducted by Nishma Research and is sponsored by The Micah Foundation. The study researchers and foundation benefactors are Orthodox Jews. the foundation’s mission is to promote and enhance Jewish religious and cultural life.” However, it does not clearly explain who these people are?? b. Page 2 i. Here it finally explains how the survey can both send you gift cards and be anonymous as well finally providing someone to contact . ii. It says here, “Among couples, we encourage both spouses to take the survey separately, so that we know how each individual thinks about the various issues. The survey takes about 18-20 minutes to complete. (Each screen has a "Save and Continue Later" option you may click at the top, if you do not have the time to complete the survey.)” 1. This means that they don’t have IP restrictions. In other words, if the same couple can do the survey separately, there is no way of stopping someone from doing the survey twice himself or ten times himself. That is why many surveys are designed to be taken only once from each IP address. It can cause trouble for the same couple not being able to take the survey on their home wifi on different computers, but here it seems that anyone can do whatever they want. c. Page 3 i. “Please describe Please enter an 'other' value for this selection.” I don’t know what this means? Write the word, “other?” d. Page 4 i. The question says, “What is your gender?” the third option is, “Non-conforming, other.” This opens the survey to being pegged as being left wing orthodox as opposed to sympathetic to right wing orthodox. There is no reason to do this. To get the 0.00 something percent? You could just as well count the people who skip this question. IMPORTANT SURVEY FROM NISHMA AND THE OU Nishma Research, under the leadership of Mark Trencher, is conducting an independent survey of United States Orthodox Jews. The goal is to collect information about various attitudes within the community. This survey is open to anyone age 18+ who attends an Orthodox synagogue. The Nishma survey has been drafted and will be analyzed entirely independent of the Orthodox Union. While Nishma has agreed to share the survey results with the OU, the OU does not have any control over how the results will be portrayed or published. The survey is online and can be accessed at http://bit.ly/Orth odox-Survey. It covers a wide range of issues, such as shul and davening, Jewish education and learning, raising a family, issues of concern to women, success and challenges of living in today’s society, etc. The survey is totally anonymous. Note also that there will be ten $100 gift cards given out to randomly selected respondents. The survey will be available for completion online through August 31. CLICK HERE TO TAKE THE SURVEY Page 1 Survey of the Orthodox / Observant Jewish Community What are the views of the Orthodox Jewish community? What do you think about the major questions facing Jewish life, your community, your family and yourself? This survey addresses these and related questions. The aggregated results will be clearly communicated to both synagogue leaders and congregants. The survey is conducted by Nishma Research and is sponsored by The Micah Foundation. The study researchers and foundation benefactors are Orthodox Jews; the foundation’s mission is to promote and enhance Jewish religious and cultural life. Page 2 This survey is for people age 18 and older. Among couples, we encourage both spouses to take the survey separately, so that we know how each individual thinks about the various issues. The survey takes about 18-20 minutes to complete. (Each screen has a "Save and Continue Later" option you may click at the top, if you do not have the time to complete the survey.) This survey is 100% anonymous. At the end of the survey, you will have the opportunity to get the survey results sent directly to you. Additionally, you’ll be able to sign up for a chance to win one of ten $100 Gift Cards. If you have any questions about the survey, please email Mark Trencher of Nishma Research at mark@nishmaresearch.com. Page 3 Note: This is the only survey question with a mandatory response. We do, however, encourage you to respond to all the other questions as well. Regardless of your synagogue affiliation, which of the following categories best describes your approach to Judaism? Would you say you are ... • Modern Orthodox or Centrist Orthodox (Note: You will have the opportunity later in the survey to further define this) • Yeshivish / Litvish / Agudah • Chasidic / Chabad • Not Orthodox – Please describe Please enter an 'other' value for this selection. Page 4 What is your gender? • Male • Female • Non-conforming, other