The Use of Survey Results by Democratically Controlled Organizations

Abstract

This article reports afollow-up study taken three years after asurvey of is food cooperatives in California and other Western states. This study was conducted to determine the levels of dissemination and use of the survey results. Employing telephone interviews, the authors sought to determine a contact person's ability to recall the survey and to find evidence of specific applications of the results. This study uncovered instances of use previously unknown to the survey team, andfound more evidence of use in examinations of those cooperatives nearest the center conducting the survey, leading the authors to conclude that geography was the most important predictor of such usage. The authors further conclude thatfollow-up studies are both practicable and important, and that such studies should seek to find tangible instances of use rather than elicit general statements regarding value. As a final note, the authors indicate that a salutary by-product of the study was an increased interest among the organizations studied in conducting their own research.