CTA Comparison for OMB

Comparison of Respondents versus Non-Respondents
The following compares respondents of a customer satisfaction survey with non-respondents based on
demographic information and other respondent background information provided by the client. This survey
was conducted via phone with trained professional interviewers.
The study involved the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Conservation Technical
Assistance (CTA).
A sample of 250 respondents was collected from a total of 2028 records. (By collecting 250 responses the
typical 90% confidence interval around mean scores reported on a 0 to 100 scale will be +/- 2.1 points.) The
sample of CTA customers were provided by the client and were taken to be representative of their client
base of customers who had received Conservation Technical Assistance through the USDA NRCS. Along
with the contact information necessary to contact the respondent the following information was provided
about the customer: Region, Ethnicity/Race and Gender.
Region
Three regions were identified by the client for classification purposes (East, Central and West).
The total sample population included 24.3% from the Central Region, 48.6% from the East and 27.1% from
the West. Respondents were 25.2% from Central Region, 44.4% from East and 30.4% from West.
Non-Respondents were 24.2% from Central, 49.2% from East and 26.6% from West. There are no
significant differences between respondents and non-respondents with respect to region.

Region
Central
East
West
Total %
Total N

N

Percentage Percentage NonRespondents
Respondents
493
25.2%
24.2%
986
44.4%
49.2%
549
30.4%
26.6%
100%
100%
2028
1778
250

Percentage Significant
Difference
@ 90%
1.0%
NO
4.8%
NO
3.8%
NO
-

Gender
In the aggregate sample of 2028 records 12.6% were of females and 87.4% were of males. Of the
respondents, 12.8% were female and 87.2% were male. The non-respondents were comprised of 12.6%
females and 87.4% males. There are no significant differences between respondents and non-respondents
with respect to gender.

Gender
Male
Female
Total %
Total N

Race

N

Percentage
Percentage
NonRespondents Respondents
256
12.8%
12.6%
1772
87.2%
87.4%
100%
100%
2028
1778
250

Percentage
Significant @
Difference
90%
0.2%
NO
0.2%
NO
-

In the aggregate sample of 2028 records, 94.1% were white. There is not a significant difference between
the percentage respondents who were white (94.4%) and the percentage of non-respondents who were
white (94.0%). In the aggregate sample, 1.6% of the sample was black. There was not a significant
difference between the percentage of respondents who were black (2.4%) and of the percentage of
non-respondents who were black (1.5%). There also was not a significant difference in the proportion of
those who responded who were American Indians (1.2%) compared to the percentage of non-respondents
who were American Indians (1.5%). Due to the small percentage (<1%) of the aggregate sample
represented by the remaining categories no comparison for significant difference between respondents and
non-respondents is given.

Race
Black
White
American Indian
Hawaiian/Pacific Island
Asian
Multiple Races
No Information
Total N

N
33
1908
30
18
17
8
14
2028

Percentage
Percentage
NonRespondents Respondents
2.4%
1.5%
94.4%
94.0%
1.2%
1.5%
0.4%
1.0%
0.0%
1.0%
0.4%
0.4%
1.2%
0.6%
250
1778

Difference
0.6%
0.4%
0.3%
0.6%
1.0%
0.0%
0.6%

Significant
@ 90%
NO
NO
NO
*
*
*
*

In summary, in comparing respondent and non-respondent groups for significant differences in
membership along the categories of region, gender and race no significant differences were found for
groups that contained at least 1% of the aggregate sample population.