Opinion Research

Opinion research is a major component of the center’s work. Center staff members began with paper-and-pencil surveys in 1989. At the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, the Schaefer Center assisted the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in understanding Marylanders’ knowledge of and perceptions about the disease. Since then, the center has conducted hundreds of surveys for Maryland agencies and nonprofit organizations with a variety of populations including business leaders, welfare recipients, program beneficiaries and the general public.

The facilities within the center now include a 20-station, state-of-the-art service Computer-Aided Telephone Interviewing (CATI) lab. The center’s survey research capacity is enhanced by its ability to conduct in-person interviews, Web-based surveys and scannable paper surveys.

A signature product of the Schaefer Center is the annual Maryland Policy Choices survey, which polls 800 Marylanders about their opinions regarding the state of the state and current policy issues. The survey findings are disseminated to the media and to elected officials throughout Maryland, including members of the Maryland General Assembly, the governor’s office and county executives. Through this survey, elected officials get an unbiased look at the pulse of the state.

During the mid 1990’s, the center added professional focus group moderation to its opinion research services. Center researchers use focus groups to collect qualitative data for evaluation studies and needs assessments and to enhance survey design and interpretation. With a cadre of professionally trained focus group moderators who are experts in program evaluation and policy analysis, the center is well equipped to combine quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques to produce reliable research reports that enable better decision-making.