Form 1 Interview protocol

OMB Control No. 3135-0130

Expires 4/25/2014

N EA-ESF YOUR TOWN EVALUATION

PARTICIPANT FOCUS GROUP PROTOCOL #5

Anticipated number of interviewees: 9 groups of 3 – 5 people each

Approximate duration: 30 – 45 minutes

INTRO SCRIPT:

RMC Research Corporation is conducting an evaluation study of the Your Town Workshop Program for the funder, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). The purpose of the study is to investigate and report on the workshop preparation and experience as well as the effectiveness of the workshops for participants and communities. The study will also look at the different Your Town delivery models used since the program began 20 years ago.

RMC will prepare a report for the co-directors, Richard Hawks and Shelley Mastran, and NEA that summarizes findings from interviews being conducted with other Your Town workshop coordinators, faculty, speakers, and participants over the next several months. The interview questions have been developed for the different roles people played in the workshop program.

As participants in a Your Town workshop in [town] in [year], you have been invited to take part in this focus group. Our conversation should last about an hour.

Your participation is voluntary and you will not receive any compensation for participating in the interview. Please feel free to decline any answers you wish. You will not be identified by name in my notes or in subsequent reporting, but the community in which the workshop was held will likely be mentioned.

I will be recording this phone interview as a check on my own notes. I’ll turn off the recorder at any time you request. The audio file will be kept secure and only I and my colleague [name] will have access to it. The audio file will be destroyed no later than March 1, 2012, when the final report is due to the NEA.

I have received your reply email indicating your consent to participate.

REVIEW FOCUS GROUPS NORMS WITH THE GROUP – obtain names

Do you have any questions about the study or the interview process? If not, I’m beginning the recording now.

1. How were you recruited for the Your Town workshop?

2. What was your role in the town at that time? [e.g., town official, volunteer organization members, builder, developer, citizen]

3. What was your motivation for attending the workshop? [What interested you about it?]

4. Did you stay the whole time? If not, how much did you participate? Did participation mean skipping work and losing money?

5. How relevant was the workshop content to your interests and your town? [Did you learn things about your town’s history or the design process that you have been able to use later?]

6. How useful was the notebook to you? [Did you refer to it later? Share its contents? Would another format, such as a digital notebook, have worked better for you?

7. Did you find the balance of lectures, design sessions, social time, and field trips (if applicable) good? Would you have liked more of one element or another?

8. What was the greatest benefit of the workshop to you personally? Do you look at your town differently now?

9. Would you recommend the Your Town workshop to someone else?

10. How ready, in your view, was your town to take on the kinds of design issues the workshop focused on?

11. Did you stay involved in design issues in your town? Did you participate in any follow-up activities? What would have been helpful in moving things forward? What barriers in your town prevent or prevented follow up?

12. How has your community benefited from the workshop? [Did it increase opportunities for community participation? Effect any physical changes?]

13. What, in your view, would be signs of the workshop’s success?

14. How could the workshops be improved to engage participants more?

Your Town Participant Focus Group Page 2