Results From BIG Meetings

Public Communications serves as a communications link between the city of Columbia’s municipal government and the citizens. The Public Communications Office coordinates several programs that are designed to link citizens with their city government.

Exit Questionnaires

Results from the Big Idea Gathering Meetings

Summary Tables

Approximately 425 participants attended the two Big Idea-Gathering Meetings held on November 28 and December 7, 2006. Among those in attendance, 360 participants completed all or part of an exit questionnaire, representing a response rate of about 85 percent. This report summarizes the results of the exit questionnaire. It is divided into two parts – Participant Demographics and Participant Reactions to the Process.

Part 1: Participant Demographics

Sex

Respondents were evenly split between men and women (180 each).

Race and Ethnicity

Three hundred and fifty participants provided information on their race and ethnicity. The majority of respondents (88.9%) identified themselves as white. Black/African-American residents were the second most represented group, at 7.4 percent. Just over one percent (1.1%) of questionnaire respondents identified themselves as Asian while 2.6 percent identified with other racial or ethnic groups. These totals represent a fairly close match to the demographic composition of Columbia as reported in the 2000 US Census. The table below provides further details.

Table 1: Reported Race / Ethnicity

Race/Ethnicity	Big Meeting Survey Respondents		2000 Census Columbia, MO
	Count	% Total	% Total
Black/African-American	26	7.4%	10.9%
Asian	4	1.1%	4.3%
White/Caucasian	311	88.9%	81.5%
Other	9	2.6%	3.3%
Total	350	100.0%	100%

Source: BIG Meeting Exit Questionnaires; 2000 US Census

While Black/African American and Asian populations were slightly underrepresented, the addition of only a small number or respondents (12 additional Black/African American and 11 additional Asian respondents) would have placed the exit survey results on par with overall racial and ethnic distribution. Among 350 respondents who provided information on race and ethnicity, eight individuals (or 2.3 percent) identified themselves as Hispanic or Latino. This tracks closely with 2000 US Census data (2.1% reported Hispanic / Latino origin).

Age

Over half (52.8%) of the survey respondents were between the ages of 45 and 64. According to the 2000 US Census, nearly half of Columbia’s population is between the ages of 24 and 44, while 24.4 percent of questionnaire respondents were in this age range. BIG meeting participants were somewhat older than the Columbia population as a whole.

Education

Exit questionnaire respondents displayed a high level of educational attainment, with nearly half (46.6%) possessing a Masters Degree or PhD. An additional 38.5 percent of respondents have college degrees. Only 5.6 percent of respondents had a high school diploma or lower. The respondents’ level of educational attainment (with 66.7 percent possessing a college degree or higher) surpasses that of Columbia as a whole. The 2000 Census indicated that 50.5 percent of residents possessed a college degree or higher.

Only 24 questionnaire respondents described themselves as full-time students. Among these, 16 were college or graduate students and eight were K-12.

Residence

The vast majority (93.4%) of questionnaire respondents identified themselves as living within Columbia’s city limits. Only 23 total respondents lived outside of the city. The greatest number of respondents have lived in the city between 20 and 29 years (22.1%). Most questionnaire respondents (86.2 percent) live in a single family home.

Income

Questionnaire respondents reported a broad range of household incomes. The table below provides further details. According to the US Census, the median household income in Columbia in 1999 was $33,729.

Table 2: Reported Income

Income	Count	% Total
Less than $15,000	29	8.8%
$15,000 to $34,999	35	10.6%
$35,000 to $49,999	34	10.3%
$50,000 to $74,999	63	19.1%
$75,000 to $99,999	53	16.1%
$100,000 to $149,999	64	19.4%
$150,000+	52	15.8%
Total	330	100.0%

Source: BIG Meeting Exit Questionnaires

Participant Reaction to Process

The majority of exit questionnaire respondents (96.9%) reported feeling comfortable working in their small groups during the BIG Meeting. Most questionnaire respondents (79.7%) reported that they had the opportunity to fully express their ideas in their small groups. Among those who did not feel they had the opportunity to fully express their ideas, comments indicated that lack of time was the biggest problem.

An overwhelming majority (97.1%) of questionnaire respondents reported that their ideas were received and recorded properly during the meeting. Nearly all respondents (98.6%) indicated that the process was fair to everyone in their small group.

In terms of meeting length, a majority of questionnaire respondents (85.6 percent) considered the duration of the BIG Meeting to be “about right.” Just over 11 percent reported that the meeting was too short, while only 3.2 percent felt it was too long.