Townwide Community Survey
Scarborough conducted a community survey for residents in Fall 2021. Responses have been formatted into a full findings report, slideshow presentation with key highlights, and visually represented through GIS mapping.
Findings Report
View the Findings Report for the Town of Scarborough 2021 Community Survey. The Findings Report is 138 pages and was put together by our survey consultant, ETC Institute, to share the results of the statistically valid mailed survey. The data is a reflection of 862 residents who completed the survey. According to ETC Institute, the overall response has a precision of at least +/- 3.2% at the 95% level of confidence.
The report provides the following:
- Executive Summary (Purpose, Methodology, Major Findings, Benchmarking Analysis, Priorities)
- Overall Results (Charts & Graphs)
- Benchmark Analysis (Regionally & Nationally)
- Importance-Satisfaction Analysis
- Tabular Data
- Survey Instrument (Sample survey)
Mapping Results
ETC Institute prepared maps showing the results of specific questions on the survey by geography. Addresses of survey respondents were geocoded to the block latitude and longitude coordinates to ensure the exact location of a respondent’s household is not revealed. This representation of data is able to visually show how well the Town is delivering services to various parts of the Town.
View GIS Map data
View the interactive dashboard below for detailed viewing options of the data.
Town Council Survey Workshop & Presentation of Findings Report
View the January 5 presentation given by survey consultant ETC Institute. (Slides Only)
Online-Only Survey Results
Not Statistically Valid
In order to provide all residents access to share their feedback in the community survey, the Town opened up an online-only survey for anyone who did not receive the mailed survey. The data from the digital survey is not statistically valid, as there is no guarantee of residing in Scarborough, number of times the survey was completed, adhering to a representation across age groups and other demographics, etc.
The general public survey received 251 responses. The demographics skew older than the statistically valid survey. View the demographic comparisons of the mailed vs. online responses.
Scarborough Community Survey – General Public Results
Project Timeline
July 2021:Town Council Communications Committee meets with three survey consultants. ETC Institute is selected.
August 2021: Survey design work with ETC begins. It was completed in October.
November 2021: Survey distribution begins. 4,200 households are selected for a random sample and require a minimum return of 600 surveys in order to be statistically valid. Active survey outreach begins on Election Day, November 11 with town councilors distributing paper versions at the polls to encourage town-wide participation.
December 2021: With the minimum requirement of 600 surveys surpassed for the statistically valid survey, an online version (identical to the mailed) is made live and available to all other residents (who did not receive a mailed copy) to share their feedback. It is open for an approximately 2.5 week period, from December 1-19, and promoted via the Town E-Newsletter website, Scarborough Leader, and social media.
January 5, 2022: TC Institute developed a Findings Report with the statistically valid data and presented it to the Town Council in a workshop. Watch the Presentation
Tabular data from the online version will be provided in mid-January and made available here.
Survey Design
The final survey was 7 pages long and was estimated to take about 20 minutes to complete. Participants were asked to give an Importance/Satisfaction rating on a variety of topics, including the public library, schools, growth, traffic and transportation, environmental topics as well as our parks and beaches and many more (ie. How satisfied are you with XYZ? How important is it to you among other priorities?). All surveys are confidential and no part of the results show identifying information. Understanding your satisfaction with Town services, departments, and issues is critical to helping us better serve you and will inform us of areas for improvement. We value your opinion and greatly appreciate your willingness to share your feedback for the benefit of our community.
What Happens Next?
The results of the 2021 survey will remain on the website to view at any time. Town Council and departments will use this data as a reference point when developing goals.
Contact Us
If you have any questions regarding the survey and its results, please contact Assistant Town Manager Liam Gallagher at lgallagher@scarboroughmaine.org or Town Councilor Ken Johnson (Chair of Communications Committee) at kjohnson@scarboroughmaine.org.
Stay Connected
Survey results help inform us of what residents are interested in and priority issues for our Town. Subscribe to our Town E-Newsletter, a twice monthly email, to stay informed on updates from departments, committees, Town Council, and more.