FAQs

Community Based Survey of Supports for Healthy Eating and Active Living (CBS HEAL) –

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Sponsor/Data Collection Administrator

Who funds the survey?

CBS HEAL is funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Who is collecting the data?/Who is conducting the project?

The questionnaire is being administered by NORC at the University of Chicago, on behalf of CDC.

Who is NORC?

NORC is a national research organization at the University of Chicago, and has been conducting surveys in the public interest for many years.

Purpose

What is the purpose of this questionnaire?

The purpose of CBS HEAL is to gather information on the existence of certain policies, standards, and practices enacted and implemented by local governments that promote healthy eating and active living for residents.

How will the information collected be used?

CDC will use this information to evaluate the extent to which local communities have in place policy and environmental supports for healthy eating and active living consistent with recommendations from expert groups. Results will also help CDC learn about the characteristics of communities with these policies and practices.

Will my answers be made public?/How will they be used?

Any reports that will be made public will be published in the aggregate form. By this, we mean that all responses will be combined and presented in a way so that no one response could ever be traced back to a specific person.

Who will have access to the information collected?

The research partners – NORC and CDC – will have access to responses. De-identified aggregate data and summary reports will be made available to participating municipalities. De-identified aggregate data may also be made available to the public.

Participation

How long is the questionnaire?

We estimate that it will take approximately 30 minutes to complete the entire survey. This includes time necessary to gather the required information.

Is participation required?

No, your participation is completely voluntary. However, you are 1 of only approximately 4,000 municipalities randomly selected to participate, so your participation is greatly appreciated.

How was I selected?/Why are you contacting me?

We randomly selected approximately 4,000 municipalities from across the nation to participate.

Why should I participate in this survey?

You were randomly selected to participate to provide data on local policies and practices related to healthy eating and active living. Your responses will help CDC understand what local policies and procedures are in place to accomplish these goals.

At the conclusion of the study, you will be provided access to a summary report of your data that compares your municipality against others of similar characteristics.

I am too busy to complete the questionnaire.

We completely understand! Because your participation is so important, we offer several options for you to complete the questionnaire. You can complete the questionnaire online, you can complete the hardcopy and return it to NORC via the postage-paid envelope enclosed with the questionnaire, or you can return the questionnaire via fax or e-mail.

Returning the Questionnaire

How do I return my completed responses?

You can submit your responses via our web survey option. The web address is:

[SURVEY URL]

You can also return your completed questionnaire as an email attachment to: [email address].

Or you can return the responses to NORC by mail using the postage-paid envelope you should have received in your questionnaire packet.

I already returned a copy of my questionnaire.

Thank you very much for your participation! It takes several business days for mail to arrive at our facility. We will check our systems and contact you if we are unable to locate your completed survey.