Applied Sociology in the Public Sector


INTRODUCTION
    Over the course of the past two years in my role as a Graduate Assistant within the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, I have been asked many times by students what exactly they can do with a degree in sociology. As I have been working towards a Master of Arts degree, my peers and I have been asking ourselves the very same question. With the exception of obtaining a doctorate and/or teaching in some capacity, what type of job opportunities exist for those with a Bachelor or Master of Arts degree in Sociology? Perhaps an even more difficult question that has been raised concerns the marketable skills a fresh sociology graduate brings to the competitive table. Undoubtedly, answering this question is difficult at the individual level, but perhaps even more so at the departmental level. A sociology department, when considering the curriculum, content, and cohesion of courses in the program, must envision an ideal graduate and model their expectations of other students to achieve the desired end-result.

    The American Sociological Association (ASA) has recently revamped its website to include many avenues in assisting students and sociology departments in finding career opportunities for consideration. Similarly, the Association for Applied and Clinical Sociology also is in the process of building their website with a career building orientation. Essential skills and career opportunities are also addressed in a plethora of academic reports. In each of these reports, and many others, similar questions and concerns are posed, and the answers are as varied and different as the author of the individual reports. Again, besides understanding grand micro and macro oriented theories of social behavior, what skills does the sociology graduate possess that differentiates him or her enough to compete in an increasingly applied and technical labor force?

    I have been in various managerial and supervisory capacities in the sixteen years I have been in the private workforce. For more information on my work history, my resume can be found in Appendix A. Similarly, my undergraduate minor was in Business Management, and I am trained as a Business Consultant in two methodologies, Socioeconomic Approach to Management (S.E.A.M.) and Storytelling. That experience, combined with grading well over a thousand papers over the past two years as a teaching assistant, has given me a very practical and realistic view of both my abilities and career opportunities in comparison to my graduate cohort, but also a good understanding of the difficulty many students have in identifying, and applying, the skills and knowledge they gained in completing a degree in sociology. It is one thing to have a degree, it is entirely another to know what to do with it.

    In the course of this Internship Report, "Applied Demographics in the Public Sector," I will first discuss basic sociology versus applied sociology followed by a brief discussion of demography and to situate demography and population studies within the field of sociology. I will then discuss applied demography. Next, after a brief overview of the history and scope of Williams Demographics, I will describe my specific duties and tasks in my internship to illustrate, in a step-by-step manner, key abilities in applied sociology in the public sector. I will conclude with a summary of essential skills and knowledge I utilized in performing in my various capacities at Williams Demographics.

   
BASIC SOCIOLOGY VS APPLIED SOCIOLGY
    The distinction between two different applications of sociological thought can be traced back to the origins of the discipline. As Larsen (1993) explains, in the 1820s, the founder of sociology, Auguste Comte, called for the discipline of sociology to be divided into departments. The first "department" was pure sociology, which would study "statics" or the structure and functions of the social world to uncover general scientific laws underlying social behavior. The second department was that of applied sociology, which would focus on "dynamics" or social change that would reduce or alleviate contemporary social problems (Larson 1993, p. 2).

    Langham and Phillips (2001) explain in the later half of the 19th century, sociology could still be distinctly separated between "sociology as a source of information and analysis and 'practical sociology' as a means of addressing social problems" (2001, p. 57). Langham and Phillips cite Lester Ward, the first president of the American Sociological Society (now the American Sociological Association) as clarifying the difference between "applied sociology" and "pure sociology." Ward, in 1906, wrote:

    Applied sociology deals with the artificial means of accelerating the spontaneous     process of nature. The subject matter of pure sociology is achievement that of     applied sociology is improvement. The former relates to the past and to the     present, the latter to the future (Ward, 1906, p. 6).

A more modern definition of applied sociology is more encompassing. As defined in The Blackwell Dictionary of Sociology:

    Applied sociology uses sociological concepts, principles and insights to deal with     real-world decisions and problems. Major areas of applied sociological work     include gathering data on social indicators—from patterns of consumption of     various goods and services to the incidence of disease and injury—to better inform     decisions ranging from public health policy to corporate marketing strategies    (Johnson, 2004, p.16).

Considering the Blackwell definition of applied sociology, it is clear that the modern use of this term is firmly situated in "real world decisions."

    Other researchers such as Ballantine and Phelps (2002) suggest that sociology can be divided into three camps, none of which are necessarily "mutually exclusive or conflicting." They call the first camp "pure" sociology. Those within this camp perform "…sociology for sociology sake… theory and research applied to questions of interest to the researcher regardless of practical merits of the question" (Ballantine and Phelps, 2002, p.42). The second camp is active sociology in the tradition of C. Wright Mills, in which researchers apply their sociological imagination to "…get involved in the social issues of the world around us" (Ballantine and Phelps, 2002, p. 42). The third camp involves the application of "…our [sociologists] knowledge and skills to help answer other people's questions and solve other's problems" (Ballantine and Phelps, 2002, p. 43). The third camp to which Ballantine and Phelps refer is the camp of sociology in which I feel most comfortable operating. This will be the focus of this report.

    Ballantine and Phelps contrast the research goals of basic sociology and applied sociology. In Table 1, on the following page, adapted from Ballantine and Phelps (2002), I present key distinctions between basic sociology and applied sociology regarding orientation, goal, and source of the research problem. To summarize the difference succinctly, the research goal of basic sociology is "…to advance our knowledge about human's social behavior with little concern for any immediate practical benefit that might result," whereas

Table 1: Basic vs. Applied Sociology 
Basic Sociology 
Applied Sociology 
Orientation Theory Building/hypothesis testing Program effects and consequences of practices
Goal Knowledge production Knowledge utilization and problem solving 
Source of Research Problem Self-or Discipline generated Client generated 
Source: Ballantine and Phelps (2002) adapted from Demartini, Joseph R. 1982. "Basic and Applied Sociological Work: Divergence, Convergence or Peaceful Coexistence?" The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 18(2): 205-206.

 
the research goal of applied sociology is "…designed to focus sociological knowledge or research tools on a particular problem identified by some client with some practical outcome in mind" (Ballantine and Phelps, 2002, p.43). Although these camps seem rather vague and almost interchangeable, a continuum of ideology emerges with basic, or pure, sociology on one side and applied sociology on the other. Accordingly, since I consider myself more of an applied sociologist than a basic sociologist, it was perhaps only natural for me to gravitate towards the field of demography.

DEMOGRAPHY AND POPULATION STUDIES
    In the previous section I made a clear distinction between basic and applied sociology. In this section I will situate the area of my interest and internship, applied demography and population studies, within the sociology discipline. As explained in Johnson (2004), "The close connection between demography and sociology is most apparent in the field of population studies, which focuses on the relations between demographic variables on the one hand and the characteristics of social systems on the other" (Johnson, 2004, p. 82). Pol and Swanson (2004) explain most demography and population programs and courses are offered at undergraduate and graduate levels and are housed in departments of sociology. Although the Department of Anthropology and Sociology at New Mexico State University does not provide a specialization in demography, two courses are offered relating to population studies or demographics—one at the undergraduate level and one at the graduate level. While a lack of a specific population study curriculum may be disheartening for a student yearning for a future in demography, Pol and Swanson argue that, "For the most part, demographers receive reasonably good methods training, but only a few programs offer several courses designed to give students exposure to public and private sector applications" (Pol and Swanson, 2004, p. 7). In this regard, in order to become an applied demographer, it may be necessary to choose an appropriate university, or at the very least, intern for a demographer. I was fortunate enough to be instructed by Dr. Williams in the demography courses, which stimulated my interest. Similarly, the internship provided practical skills necessary for career development.

    According to The Blackwell Dictionary of Sociology, "demography is the systemic study of the growth, size, composition, and movement of human populations" (Johnson, 2000, p. 81). The origins of this methodology are traced to John Graunt, who, in the seventeenth century used church and city records of deaths and christenings to identify social patterns of mortality in the London area. Although Graunt was not the first to study various aspects of the population, he was the first to base his observations and analysis on "systemic records" (Johnson, 2000, p.81).

    Simply, demography is the scientific study of human populations. As Weeks (2005) explains, the term itself was coined in 1855 by Achille Guillard, who in the book Elements de Statistique Humaine ou Demographie Comparee, defined demography as "the mathematical knowledge of populations, their general movements, and their physical, civil, intellectual and moral state" (Guillard, 1855, p. xxvi in Weeks, p.4). Weeks explains that this definition is consistent with the modern application of demography. To Weeks, modern demography is the study of the determinants and consequences of population change and is concerned with virtually everything that influences or can be influenced by population size, structure, processes, growth or decline, distribution, and characteristics (Weeks, 2005, p.5).

Table 2: 
Modern Demography Concerns 
Population Size 
Population Growth or Decline 
Population Processes 
Population Distribution 
Population Structure 
Population Characteristics 
Source: Weeks (2004) 
    In Table 2, I summarize the key concerns of demographic research. Briefly, population size refers to how many people are present in a specific location. Population structure and distribution refers to the sex and ages of the people and where they are physically located. Over time, this population grows and declines due to various changes in population processes including changing levels and trends in mortality, fertility and migration. Population characteristics refer to what people are like in a given place. Characteristics are often discussed in terms of variables such as education, income, occupation, family and household relationships, immigrant and refugee status, and the many other characteristics that add up to who we are as individuals or groups of people (Weeks, 2005). Sociology provides a very powerful foundation for understanding the characteristics of the various populations applied demographers may consider.

   
APPLIED DEMOGRAPHY
    As within the discipline of sociology, the sub-discipline of demography is also on a research and ideological continuum with basic demography and applied demography on opposing ends of the spectrum. Although the demographic method and ideology has been in existence since Guillard's era, according to Pol (1998), the sub-discipline within demography labeled applied demography generally is considered to be relatively new. Pol and Swanson explain, "Evidence for this claim is found in the infrequent use of the term until the late 1970s, and the fact that before the 1980s few demographers considered themselves to be applied demographers"
(Pol and Swanson, 2004, p.1).
Pol explains that although from the inception of the demographic method researchers have been engaging in applied demography, the work was not published for two primary reasons. First, the "discipline was more narrowly defined than it is today, thus applications were seen as having limited, or no significance." Second, as Pol explains, "…some of the efforts yielded reports that were proprietary and therefore never considered for wider dissemination" (Pol, 1998, p. 160). Clearly, although the majority of applied demographic research appears to have been conducted fairly recently, demographers have actually been engaged in applied activities for a much longer period of time.

As Pol and Swanson explain, the first book with applied demography in its title was Applied Mathematical Demography by N. Keyfitz published in 1977, although it had little to do with what is considered applied demography today (Pol and Swanson, 2004). A second book authored by Rives and Serow, which focused for the most part on methods of applied demography, was published in 1984 and entitled Introduction to Applied Demography. In this book, Rives and Serow provided the first definition of applied demography:

    …applied demography is that branch of the discipline (demography) that is directed     toward the production, dissemination, and analysis of demographic and closely     related     information for quite specific purposes of planning and reporting (Rives and     Serow, 1984, p. 10).

In a discussion of the definition and explanation of the term, Swanson, Burch, and Tedrow

provide the observation that "…the specific geographic unit identified as the object of applied demographers' attention often includes areas that are relatively small, ranging for example, from states, counties, and municipalities, to census tracts and blocks" (Swanson, Burch, and Tedrow, 1996, p.405). This first definition of applied demography clarified the paradigmatic shift from larger populations to smaller, more localized, and need specific populations.

    Murdock and Ellis (1991) provide the most compelling differentiation between basic and applied demography. To Murdock and Ellis, the differences between the two can be considered across five dimensions:

    1.    Scientific goal: Basic demography is concerned largely with explanation; applied demography with prediction.

    2.    Time referent: Basic demography is concerned with the past; applied demography with the present and the future.

    3.    Geographic focus: Basic demography is concerned with international; or national patterns (often studied using individual data); applied demography with aggregate data for small areas.

    4.    Purpose of the analysis: Basic demography is concerned with the advance of scientific knowledge, especially theoretical knowledge of causes; applied demography with the application of knowledge to discern the consequences of concomitants of demographic change.

    5.     Intended use of analytic results: Basic demography is concerned with the advance of knowledge and the sharing of that knowledge with the scientific community and the general public; applied demography with the use of research results to inform decision making among non-demographers (Murdock and Ellis, 1991, p.6).

The characteristics of applied demography within each of these dimensions are what make this sub-discipline particularly suited for research in the public and private sector, particularly the emphasis on decision making within a time referent. Swanson, Burch, and Tedrow explain further by writing:

     …basic demography pursues an open-ended quest for ever-better knowledge— more precise and reliable measurement, firmer empirical generalizations, better  theoretical systems, and more refined techniques. The guiding principle in applied demography, by contrast, is quantum sufficit—only as much necessary for the  immediate problem at hand (Swanson, Burch, and Tedrow, 1996, p. 408).

As Pol and Swanson explain, "Applied demographers must be able to synthesize data, methods and perspectives from a range of disciplines in order to explore the best opportunities and to produce optimal solutions to problems" (Pol and Swanson, 2004, p. 6).

    As a brief summary of what applied demography entails, Swanson, Burch, and Tedrow provided these distinctions:

    1.    Applied demography brings demographic expertise to bear on specific,  concrete practical problems.

    2.     These problems arise especially in the realms of business and government, particularly state and local governments.

    3.    The problems typically are posed at the level of small geographic areas.

    4.    The core analytic activities in applied demography are population estimation and forecasting.

    5.    Applied demographic work is relatively uninterested in theory or in causal explanation.

    6.    Applied demographic work is not autonomous scientific activity but is done  specifically for a client (Swanson, Burch, and Tedrow, 1996, p. 406).

Applied demography, in this regard, reiterates the application of knowledge and skills to make "real-world decisions."

Central to the ability to apply knowledge is the insight as to where to find appropriate data to inform decision-making. Although applied demographers frequently use non-standard datasets such as school enrollment data, payroll and administrative records, and hospital discharges, to name a few, the US Census Bureau is the primary source of demographic data.     In Table 3, on the following page, I provide a list of the most common web-based sources of data for demographic analysis. Most of these websites provide data that can be easily imported into the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) or into Microsoft Excel for tabular analysis. In a world of high speed internet connections, significant demographic data is accessible both easily and quickly.

 
TABLE 3:
Common Internet Web Sites for Demographic Data
Federal Interagency Council on Statistical Policy 
Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics 
Federal Interagency Forum on Aging Related Statistics 
U.S. Bureau of the Census 
American Factfinder 
Population Data 
Housing and Household Economics 
Population Estimates 
Population Projections 
Tiger 
U.S. Bureau for Economic Analysis 
US Center for Disease Control 
US National Center for Health Statistics 
US Bureau of Labor Statistics 
US Internal Revenue Service 
US Immigration and Naturalization Service 
US Economic Research Service (Dept. of Ag.) 
Population Reference Bureau 
US National Center for Education Statistics 

 
    Pol (1998) explains applied demography can be divided into three components: Public sector, private sector (business demography), and data estimation and projections (small area). As I will explain later in the report, although Williams Demographics has performed research which exhibits all three components, the projects in which I was involved during my internship were based in the public sector. To illustrate the type of work applied demographers may perform, I provide an overview in Table 4.


 
Table 4: Work of Applied Demographers
  
General 
Specific 
All three components Collection and compilation of demographic and quasi-demographic data. Development of forms, questions, tabulation plans; Participation in editing of survey returns; Implementation and evaluation of population censuses and surveys; Development of data sources for demographic uses.
Data Estimation and Projection Analysis of data compiled in population censuses and sample surveys.Trends in population size and characteristics; Measurement and interpretation if internal migration; Application of graphic information systems. 
Preparation of population estimates and projections. National, state and local levels of demographic and socioeconomic characteristics.
Private Sector (Business) Application of demographic methods to nonhuman populations. Life tables for manufactured products and the built environment; Demographic analysis of sets of organizations.
Application of the methods and materials of demography to the problems of business administration. Site location; Marketing; Human Resource planning; Internal population dynamics of workforce 
Study of the population dynamics of the national labor force, regional labor forces, and the labor forces of industries. Labor force segmentation and description. 
Public Sector Application of the methods and materials of demography to the problems of state and local government administration.Site location; Measurement of need for public services and facilities. 
Analysis of various legal and political issues involving population data. Use of adjusted census data for fund allocation, legislative redistricting, and redrawing school districts.
Demographic analysis of public policy issues. Solvency of the Social Security system, effectiveness of welfare to work programs, and the role of population and other factors in the rise in health care costs. 
  Source: Adapted from Siegel (2004) p. 3. 
  
HISTORY AND SCOPE OF WILLIAMS DEMOGRAPHCIS
    As explained on the website of the business, Williams Demographics was first registered with the New Mexico Department of Taxation and Revenue in 1982 as the consulting business of James D. Williams, Ph.D. (Williams Demographics) The organizational structure is a sole proprietorship. Labor and knowledge are subcontracted as the project demands. The company's original focus was on redistricting analysis and litigation support. Although the focus on redistricting has continued over the years, Williams Demographics has also branched into other areas of private sector research including needs assessments, program evaluations, population projections, and survey research activities.    


Table 5: Example of Williams Demographics' Client List
Research 
Decision (Private)
Agricultural Experiment Station Research 
APA and NM Psychological Association 
Border Research Institute 
SNM Legal Services 
Center for Social Research
Colonias Development Council 
Cooperative Extension Service 
Moongate Water Company 
  
Catholic Diocese 
  
Tierra del Sol Housing 
  
Research and Polling 
  
BBC 
Government (Public)
Education 
NM Legislative Council Service 
Gadsden ISD 
NM Local Government Division
Albuquerque Public Schools 
NM Department of Health 
Las Lunas Public Schools 
City of Las Cruces 
(Taos Public Schools) 
NM Mortgage Finance Authority 

 
US Chamber of Commerce 

 
  
  In order to appreciate the versatility of Williams Demographics, in Table 5 I present a list of selected clients.

Because of the emphasis on end-results in applications of applied demography, it is useful to identify some of the key accomplishments found in the Williams Demographics portfolio. As mentioned previously, Dr. Williams specializes in political redistricting. In the early 1980s, after considerable research, Dr. Williams testified as lead expert witness in voting rights litigation in New Mexico. This research and testimony led to sweeping changes in election laws that dramatically increased minority access to elected offices. For better or worse, this involvement has given Dr. Williams a nickname of "The Democratic Demographer." Considering recent Supreme Court decisions regarding political redistricting, it is likely that redistricting will play a prominent role in continued success of the business.

     As another example of end-result driven research, Williams Demographics, under contract with the Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces, designed and managed a needs assessment program for properties in a ten county area owned by the Catholic Diocese. This project included management of data gathering and report preparation. The methodological and scientific organization of the data streamlined the ability of the Diocese to apply for funding. In fact, the Diocese estimates that the data provided the basis for more than $5 million of grant funding for programs and services.

    Under contract with Tierra del Sol, Williams Demographics developed a new methodology for surveying farm-workers in southern New Mexico in support of low-income housing grants. This methodology, designed by Dr. Williams, is currently recommended by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) throughout the nation for subsidized housing applications. The Tierra del Sol contract has resulted in millions of dollars of subsidized housing construction in Southwestern New Mexico and Texas.

    Williams Demographics also designed a household size and income enumeration methodology that is currently recommended by the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and used nationwide for program applications that include primary data gathering by local applicants. This methodology, discussed in the following section, is primarily used when applying for Community Development Block Grant funding to improve local neighborhoods. Williams Demographics has been responsible for qualifying several areas in the City of Las Cruces for millions of dollars in federal CDBG funding.


City of Las Cruces CDBG Neighborhood Enumeration
    The first project I worked on at Williams Demographics was an enumeration of several neighborhoods in Las Cruces, New Mexico. In the 2005 Strategic Plan for the City of Las Cruces (2005) one of the stated goals was to "Develop and adopt a housing and neighborhood revitalization strategy." The first objective of this goal was to identify the neighborhoods and determine criteria to determine eligibility and to conduct a field study to locate qualified areas. The second objective was to determine evaluative criteria in monetary and quality of life in terms of revitalization programs funded by the federal government.

In November 2005, Williams Demographics, under contract with BBC Research and Consulting (BBC), conducted a door-to-door survey of households in three geographic areas within the City of Las Cruces, New Mexico. According to a BBC report, "The purpose of the survey was to determine the share of residents in each area who qualify as low- and moderate-income, using the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD's) criteria" (BBC, 2006). This research was necessary in order for the City of Las Cruces to determine if the areas are currently eligible to receive housing and community development funding, a federal block grant program.

    As explained in a BBC report, each year, states and entitled cities receive block grants from HUD to fund a variety of housing and community development activities. The largest share of the funding received is the Community Development Block Grant, or CDBG. CDBG regulations state that projects and activities funded under the federal program must meet one of three national objectives:

    1.    Benefit low and moderate-income persons;

    2.    Aid in the prevention or elimination of slums and blight;

    3.     Meet other community development needs having a particular urgency.  
 

TABLE 6: Income Definitions used in City of Las Cruces 2005 CDBG Eligibility Application 
Extremely Low Income 
30% and less of area median income 
Low-income 
31-50% of area median income
Moderate-income 
51-80% of area median income 
High Income 
Greater than 80% of area median income 
Source: BBC Research (2006) 

 

A low and moderate-income area (LMA), according to HUD guidelines, is an area in which the majority (51 percent) of residents within a census tract, or block group of a census tract, are low or moderate-income. HUD defines low and moderate-income as a percentage of an area's median income, with adjustments for household or family size. Although the definition varies somewhat among HUD programs, in Table 6,


I have indicated the income definitions used in this study. These definitions were determined jointly between David Dollahon, the Director of Neighborhood Services for City of Las Cruces and Heidi Aggeler, one of the principals at BBC and our primary contact. In Table 7, I provide a detailed operationalization of the income definitions used in the survey.

  

Table 7: Income Definitions Used in Survey Analysis for City of Las Cruces
Household Size 
Extremely Low Income 
Low income 
Moderate Income 
High Income 
1 Person 
<$8,200 
$8,200 to $13,699 
$13,700 to $21,00 
>$21,900 
2 Person 
<$9,400 
$9,400 to $15,649 
$15,650 to $25,000 
>$25,000 
3 Person 
<$10,550 
$10,550 to $17,599
$17,600 to $28,150 
>$28,150 
4 Person 
<$11,750 
$11,750 to $19,549 
$19,550 to $31, 300 
>$31,300 
5 Person 
<$12,650 
$12,650 to $21,099 
$21,100 to $33,800 
>$33,800 
6 Person 
<$13,600 
$13,600 to $22,699 
$22,700 to $36,300 
>$36,300
7 Person 
<$14,550 
$14,500 to $24,249 
$24,250 to $38,800 
>$38,800 
8 Person 
<$15,500 
$15,500 to $25,799 
$25,800 to $41,30 
>$41,300 
NOTE: The 2005 Median Family Income for Las Cruces was $38,800.  
Source: Department of Housing and Urban Development and BBC Research and Consulting. (2006)   

 
    As explained in the BBC report to the city HUD does a preliminary analysis of census data and provides lists of LMAs to grantee cities throughout the nation. In the City of Las Cruces, HUD determined that there were three areas that did not meet the LMA definition when analyzed on the Census tract geographic level. However, the City of Las Cruces suspected that these areas might currently contain sub-areas that would qualify as LMAs, and as such, would be eligible for CDBG funding. In order for the City of Las Cruces to qualify these neighborhoods for federal funding, it was determined that a complete neighborhood enumeration was necessary because HUD prefers that in the absence of Census data documenting LMA status, full enumeration surveys be conducted to determine such status. Williams Demographics was responsible for using a full enumeration methodology to test for LMA designation in three areas in the City.


 
Organizing and Training

    BBC contracted with Williams Demographics to complete the door-to-door survey. Whereas Williams Demographics was responsible for data collection, BBC performed the analysis of the data and determined LMA designation based on the analysis. In my first role at Williams Demographics, I was assigned the title of "Field Supervisor" and had the primary responsibilities of maintaining the data collection database and the dispatch and coordination of field staff for each neighborhood. In these capacities, I began working with Dr. Williams in October of 2005 recruiting field interviewers and planning the methodology of the neighborhood enumerations. Within one month we had a crew of sixteen individuals we felt were capable of performing the interviews. Of these sixteen individuals, however, only four of them spoke Spanish fluently. Although the lack of Spanish speakers was of concern at first, we only encountered about six households where Spanish was the only language spoken at home.

A training session was conducted on November 5, 2005. In this four-hour meeting Dr. Williams and I gave an overview of the project and a detailed description of the purpose and methodology. City of Las Cruces representatives were present at the training with cameras and ultimately provided the teams with city identification tags and copies of a letter explaining the project that was to be used if a respondent expressed concern about the legitimacy of the study. As we conducted the interviews, the letters were only necessary on a handful of occasions.

Each individual was provided with a training manual written by Dr. Williams providing step-by-step discussions of procedures to be employed in the field when performing the surveys. In Appendix A, I provide a copy of the training manual in its entirety. The training packet contained: Interviewer instructions, a letter for the City of Las Cruces, color codes, maps of the three geographic areas, subcontractor release forms, and time sheets. Later in this report I will discuss the specific areas of town in more detail.

    As an overview of the methodology of the survey and the contents of the training packet, survey teams of two persons to a team were to canvass the three neighborhoods in order to obtain household income information. The "Interviewer Instructions" section of the training manual included the following sections: Purpose, Overview, Employment Information, Approach, Obstacles, and At the Door. Briefly, the survey teams were required to ask an "eligible respondent" from each household two questions. First, however, we identified what is meant by households and housing units. As defined in the manual:

    A household includes all persons who occupy a housing unit. A housing unit is a     house, apartment, mobile home, or a single room or group of rooms occupied or     intended to be occupied as separate living quarters. Separate living quarters are those     in which the occupants live and eat separately from others and for which there is     direct access from outside of the building (WD, Training Manual, 2005).

Similarly, in this survey, an "eligible respondent" was determined to be "anyone in the household who knows the finances" (WD, 2005). This relatively loose definition allowed for the interviewers to use professional judgment as to the credibility and validity of the responses.

    The first question the interviewers were to ask was "How many people usually live in this household?" Persons in the household were to include the following: Everyone who usually lives there; Persons temporarily away on a trip or hospitalized; College students who stay there; Military who usually live there; and newborn babies still in the hospital. In order to clarify "persons in the household" even further, the survey teams were told not to include the following: Anyone who lives somewhere else; Persons who are away in prison; A mental hospital or nursing home; college students attending college somewhere else; and military persons housed elsewhere. We required our interview teams to become thoroughly familiar with the definitions so they could answer questions in the field.

    As one interviewer asked the first question the other team member was to use the answer of the respondent and produce one of eight laminated color-coded sheets with four income brackets based upon household size. In Figure 1, below, I provide an example of an

Figure 1: Example of Income Sheet 1


 
Income Sheet for 4 Person Household. There was a laminated sheet for One Person Household through 8 or more Persons Households. Since BBC was responsible for the analysis of the enumeration, BBC determined the income brackets and provided Williams Demographics with the actual sheets. On each sheet, the colors were arranged with yellow as the color representing the lowest income, then green, then blue, and red indicating the highest income. As the soon as the team member produced the appropriate income sheet based on number of residents within the household, the interviewer was to ask the second question while pointing at the income sheet. To answer this question respondents needed only to state what "color" their household income fell within. Income, for this study, was defined as the total income of everyone in the household, combined, for the last twelve months. This definition included the following sources of income:

  •     Wages, salary, commissions, bonuses, tips.
  •     Self-employment income from either farm or non-farm businesses-NET.
  •     Interest, dividends, net rental income, income from estates or trusts.
  •     Social security or railroad retirement.
  •     SSI or AFDC or other public assistance/welfare payments.
  •     Pensions.
  •     Other sources such as child support, alimony, unemployment compensation, or VA payments. (WD, 2005)
Because of the sensitive nature of personal questions regarding income, this methodology, which centered on an unobtrusive means of obtaining income, was suggested by Dr. Williams to increase participation in the survey.

For each housing unit, occupied or unoccupied, the interviewers were to code the addresses on a coding sheet and use a coding scheme operationalized by Dr. Williams. Address sheets were provided in an Excel format by the City of Las Cruces to BBC who, in turn, provided the sheets to Williams Demographics. Anticipating an inaccurate list, field procedures, such as codes and frequent team contact, were designed to accommodate correcting the data. In Table 8, I provide an example of the codes used in the survey.

Table 8 Codes used in Neighborhood Survey
Address Codes 
V 
Vacant 
A  
Added to list 
DU 
Duplicate address 
DNE 
Does not exist 
NR 
Not a residential address  
L 
Located 
Working Disposition Codes 
NC 
No contact made (try again) 
NE 
No eligible respondent available (try again) 
S 
Spanish language only (get Spanish interviewer)
O 
other problem (try again) 
Final Disposition Codes 
I 
at least one number in the household 
RE 
Refused entire interview (or just income if in that column) 
Income Codes 
R 
Red  
B 
Blue 
Y 
Yellow 
G 
Green 
Source: Williams Demographics 2005.

 
Table 9, I provide an example of a completed coding sheet. In order to preserve confidentiality, I have removed the addresses.

Table 9: Example of Completed Survey Sheet
Census Tract 5 Block Group 4  
Address Codes 
Attempt Disposition Codes 
No. in the Household 
Income Color 
1st 
2nd 
3rd 
4th 
Address A
L 
NC 
NC 
NC 
I 
1 
R 
Address B
L 
O 
NC 
I 
  
1 
R 
Address C
A 
O 
O 
O 
I 
1 
R 
Address D
A 
I 
  
  
  
2 
G
Address E
L 
I 
  
  
  
2 
R  
Address F
L 
NC 
I 
  
  
4 
R  
Address G
A 
I 
  
  
  
1 
RE 
Address H
A 
I 
  
  
  
1 
RE 
Address I
L 
I 
  
  
  
4 
RE 
During the training period, we also discussed specific difficulties of the three neighborhoods, assigned teams, and practiced giving the interviews. The teams "role-played" for thirty minutes, then practiced, in turn, with both Dr. Williams and me.

Execution and Results of Neighborhood Surveys

    We began conducting the surveys on November 6 and were finished on November 23, 2005. As indicated previously, the surveys were conducted in three areas of the city. The survey began in the "Stanley" neighborhood located east of the city on Highway 70, and within the first five days the surveyor teams were simultaneously in all three neighborhoods, including "Downtown" and "Alameda." Once the neighborhoods were canvassed as thoroughly as possible, I entered the neighborhood data the teams collected and submitted them to BBC on November 30, 2005 for analysis.

    The survey took place at various times during the day, typically beginning about 2:00pm and working until about 6:30pm, which during that time of the year, was nearly nightfall. We discovered that the most successful times to complete the surveys were generally on weekends and in the evenings. Although the methodology required up to five attempts per household to obtain income information, in many cases five attempts were not enough to gain the interviews. As such, in order to obtain adequate neighborhood representation, the teams often attempted the household interviews until they could be completed. This was particularly the case in the Downtown and Alameda areas.

    To maintain an accurate and methodological record of the progress of neighborhood surveys, in my role at Williams Demographics, I kept records of the listed addresses, problems with the address files, vacant units and non-residential units, as well as overall refusals to be interviewed and non-contact households. I will report these findings with each geographic area. After each team finished in the field, I held a ten-minute debriefing session to discuss issues and difficulties in the field and collected the coding sheets and field notes. The most common difficulty was found in understanding the address lists provided by the City. It was frequently necessary for the survey teams to adjust the original addresses, because they found duplicate listings, addresses that could not be located, and non-residential addresses among the address dataset. The net results included 480 occupied housing units available for enumeration. The refusal and non-contact rates for the entire short survey were very low, representing approximately 10 percent of the total housing units identified in these areas. Each neighborhood, however, presented different difficulties which needed to be addressed.

Stanley Area

    The Stanley Area is located seven miles east of the Las Cruces Country Club on Highway 70. A map of the area is provided in Figure 2 below.

Figure 2 Stanley Area


 
This area is somewhat isolated and the neighborhood residents were somewhat suspicious of our presence while conducting the interviews. In fact, the police were called on one of the teams for "suspicious activity". Consistent with the suspicious attitudes, it should be noted that during the survey process, a number of the properties in the Stanley area were fenced in and several surveyors experienced difficulties gaining access to the property due to locked gates, private property/no trespassing signs, and with remarkable frequency, mean dogs. The Stanley Area had the highest rate of refusals of interviews and no contact (21 percent) compared to the other two areas.

    Due to the small number of households in this survey area, the specific data from the survey can not be reported to preserve the confidentiality of the neighborhood residents. However, as mentioned earlier, in order to monitor progress of the survey teams, detailed records were kept tracking the completion of the neighborhoods. In Table 10, I provide a summary of the Stanley Area response rates.

Table 10: Stanley Area Property Count Information
Property Count Information 
Number 
Interview Results 
Number 
Listed Addresses 
35 
Interviews 
26 
Non-Existent or Duplicate 
5 
Refusals of Entire Interview 
3 
Non-Residential 
0 
Non-contact 
4 
Vacant 
3 
Total 
33 
Located and Added to List
6 
  
  
Occupied Housing Units 
33 
  
  
Source: Williams Demographics 2005. 

 
Twenty-six of the 33 households in this area completed the door-to-door survey. Although there were only three refusals and four non-contacts, the Stanley Area was somewhat more difficult than the numbers would suggest. This neighborhood was not paved and there were minimal street lights. Similarly, as indicated earlier, the residents seemed unusually hostile and unwelcoming. These factors required special consideration be given to the teams who went to the areas and also required more than five visits in some cases to obtain an interview.

    In the final report presented to the City of Las Cruces, BBC (2006) made these observations of the Stanley Area based on the analysis of the data provided by Williams Demographics:

The BBC report to the city indicated that, in accordance with HUD guidelines, the Stanley Area does qualify as a special low- and moderate-income area based on the proportion of low- and moderate-income persons. As with each of the areas, at the time of this report, it was unknown as to the status of the application for funding.

Downtown Area.

    The Downtown Area is located in the center of the City of Las Cruces and is illustrated in Figure 3 on the following page. After completing the Stanley Area, five teams were assigned to this area and typically worked from 2:00 until 6:00pm during the week and between 1:00pm and 4:00pm on the weekends. Towards the end of completing the enumeration, more experienced teams went after 6:30pm. The primary difficulty of this neighborhood was in identifying correct addresses. Although we were provided with address lists, it was particularly difficult to identify correct addresses for unoccupied non-residential structures. On many occasions, a structure we thought was a business was actually a residence. This was both time consuming and frustrating.


 
Figure 3 Downtown Area

 
As indicated in Table 11 the survey teams identified 177 occupied housing units in the Downtown area. A total of 160 households completed the survey, with the majority of the residents concentrated in the eastern third of the area. The survey teams encountered no memorable difficulties with the respondents of this neighborhood as compared to the Stanley Area.


Table 11: Downtown Area Property Count Information
Property Count Information 
Number
Interview Results 
Number 
Listed Addresses 
344 
Interviews 
160 
Non-Existent or Duplicate 
23 
Refusals of Entire Interview 
5 
Non-Residential 
196 
Non-contact 
12 
Vacant 
29 
Total 
177 
Located and Added to List 
81 
 Refusal rate 
 2.8%
Occupied Housing Units 
177 
 Non-contact rate 
 6.8% 
Source: Williams Demographics 2005. 

 
In Table 12, based upon the BBC's analysis of the neighborhood surveys, I provide a 


Table 12: Downtown Area Income Distribution
Income 
Households
Persons 
Extremely low-income 
20 
29 
Low-income 
31 
50 
Moderate-income 
18 
41 
High-income 
73 
142 
Total 
142 
262 
Percentage low and moderate income  
48.6% 
45.8% 

description of the Downtown Area Income Description. The survey determined that 48.6 percent of households and 45.8 percent of persons in this area are extremely low, low, or moderate-income. In contrast, 51.4 percent of the households and 54.2 percent of the persons surveyed were of high income. As BBC reported to the City, according to the HUD guidelines, this area does not qualify as a special low and moderate-income area, based on the survey.

Alameda Area

The Alameda Area of Las Cruces lies directly west of the Downtown Area, defined by railroads tracks on the eastern edge, Picacho Avenue to the north, Amador to the south, and Reymond to the west. The Alameda Area is presented in Table 4. This neighborhood, like the Stanley Area, presented several difficulties. In addition to entire apartment complexes not on the master address list, several of the areas required seasoned survey teams to obtain the interviews. Suspicions of drug and alcohol use were reported regularly and in one case, a male resident of the neighborhood "flashed" one of the male survey teams. Although this incident was perhaps humorous, it forced me to be more cautious in dispatch assignments.

Figure 4 Alameda Area


 

 
Table 13: Alameda Area Property Count Information
Property Count Information 
Number 
Interview Results 
Number 
Listed Addresses
251 
Interviews 
244 
Non-Existent or Duplicate 
16 
Refusals of Entire Interview 
10 
Non-Residential 
35 
Non-contact 
16 
Vacant 
35 
Total 
270 
Located and Added to List 
105 
 Refusal rate 
 3.7% 
Occupied Housing Units 
270 
 Non-contact rate
 5.9% 
Source: Williams Demographics 2005. 

In Table 13, I provide an overview of the count information for the Alameda area. The survey teams identified 270 occupied housing units. A total of 244 households completed the survey. Although parts of this neighborhood did require seasoned survey teams, once the survey teams became familiar to the residents, the hostile attitudes seemed to diminish.

Table 14: Alameda Area Income Distribution
Income 
Households 
Persons 
Extremely low-income
70 
146 
Low-income 
32 
60 
Moderate-income 
35 
77 
High-income 
86 
197 
Total 
223 
480 
Percentage low and moderate income  
61.4% 
59.0% 

In Table 14, based upon BBC's analysis of the neighborhood surveys, I provide an overview of the income distribution in the Alameda Area. The survey determined that 61.4 percent of households and 59 percent of persons in this area are extremely low, low, and moderate-income. Based on the survey results, according to HUD guidelines, this area does qualify as a special low and moderate-income area. 


    The City of Las Cruces Homeless Person Survey and Enumeration was also a part of the Strategic plan of developing and adopting a housing and neighborhood revitalization strategy mentioned previously in this report. Although treated as a separate project in part of a larger objective, BBC was the primary contractor, and Williams Demographics was again subcontracted to perform the field interviews and enumerations. The project, which included a full enumeration and face-to-face interview with homeless persons in the City of Las Cruces, was to be conducted at two different points in time—around Thanksgiving 2005 and early March of 2006. I will discuss each phase later in this report.

    My role in this project was that of a Project Manager. Because of the nature of the homeless population and the fact that this was a citywide endeavor, this project required both a background in management and a solid understanding of the social forces contributing to the situation of the homeless. In order to be thorough, it was necessary to speak with a number of different agencies to locate the homeless persons. For that reason, and a number of others, this project was challenging.

    In this section, I will first provide an overview of homelessness and why this type of research is necessary. I will then give a brief background of the local agencies, which in some form or another, provide services to the local homeless persons. It was necessary to understand the functions and locations of these agencies to be thorough in the enumeration. I will then discuss the enumerations and surveys, and my various roles, in detail.


Homelessness

    The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987 defines a person experiencing homelessness as "an individual who lacks a fixed permanent nighttime residence or whose nighttime residence is a temporary shelter, welfare hotel or any public or private place not designated as sleeping accommodations for human beings." (McKinney Vento Act, General Provisions) It is important to note that this definition includes those living with friends or relatives on a temporary basis as well as the more visible homeless in shelters or on the streets.

    HUD's definition of homelessness is slightly more comprehensive. In addition to defining individual and families sleeping in areas "not meant for human habitation," the definition includes persons who:

    Are living in transitional or supportive housing for homeless persons but originally     came from streets or emergency shelters; Ordinarily sleep in transitional or supportive     housing for homeless persons but are spending a short time (30 consecutive days or     less) in a hospital or other institution; Are being evicted within a week from private     dwelling units and no subsequent residences have been identified and they lack     resources and supportive networks needed to obtain access to housing; or Are being     discharged within a week from institutions in which they have been residents for more     than 30 consecutive days and no subsequent residences have been identified and they     lack the resources and support networks needed to obtain access to housing (HUD,     2006).

This definition demonstrates the vast diversity of people experiencing homelessness. Similarly, the numerous locations in which people experiencing homelessness can be found complicate efforts to estimate an accurate number of the population. It is for that reason that local agencies must cooperate in identifying and assisting homeless persons in order to reduce duplication of services.

    Estimating the total population of persons experiencing homelessness on a nationwide, statewide or even local level, is challenging due to the various types of homelessness and difficulties in locating the population. For example, an individual living with friends on a temporary basis could be experiencing homelessness, but would be unlikely to be identified in a homeless count. Based on a point-in-time survey conducted in January of 2005, the New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness (NMCEH), the organization that manages the state's Continuum of Care, estimated there were 5,256 homeless people in the state. Included in this estimate were 217 sheltered homeless and 284 unsheltered homeless persons living in Dona Ana County. (NMCEH, 2006)


Resources for the Homeless in Las Cruces

    In Table 15, I provide an overview on the resources for homeless persons in the City of Las Cruces. The Mesilla Valley Community of Hope (MVCH) is the "umbrella

TABLE 15: Resources for Homeless Persons in the City of Las Cruces
Mesilla Valley Community of Hope 
(Hacienda del Sol, St. Luke's Health Clinic, Jardin de los Ninos, El Caldito) 
Gospel Rescue Mission 
La Casa 
Community Action Agency of Southern New Mexico
Families and Youth, Inc. 
Southwest Counseling Transitional Living Center

organization" for the following resources that serve homeless persons: Hacienda del Sol, St. Luke's Health Clinic, Jardín de Los Niños and Caldito Soup Kitchen. All services are provided to persons experiencing homelessness or are near to homelessness, and some programs include those who qualify as low-income. Hacienda del Sol provides emergency shelter and transitional housing, primarily to families and women. Their facilities include nine rooms, six rooms for families and three rooms for singles. Additionally, they provide some rental assistance involving case management and life skills training. St. Luke's Health Clinic offers health care to the working poor and homeless who have no other resource for health care such as Medicaid/Medicare or other health insurance. Jardín de Los Niños provides child care for children who are homeless or near homeless, and Caldito Soup Kitchen supplies meals. All of these are located on one campus. In Picture 1, I provide a photograph of the Community of Hope Campus.


 
Picture 1 Community of Hope


 
Also included in the Community of Hope alliance, but located in separate locations within the city limits, are Casa de Peregrinos (providing basic food services) and the Mesilla Valley Clothes Closet.

    The Las Cruces Gospel Rescue Mission also provides transitional housing through Section 811 funding. I provide a photograph of the facility in Picture 2 on the following page. Persons experiencing homelessness are allowed three nights stay every 30 days, provided they are clean and sober. Fourteen slots are available for longer stays up to 90 days, where clients perform employment duties in return for food and shelter. Those who hold jobs or are students qualify for extended stay. Transition into the 90-day program requires a client evaluation, which includes a discussion of church service attendance if clients do not currently attend. Gospel Rescue Mission provides a total of 120 beds, including 92 beds for single men, eight beds for women who qualify for the 90 day program, 16 for other single women and 4 rooms for families with separate beds and showers. Currently, a minimal and volunteer staff coordinates the program and facility. In both phases of the homeless person survey, efforts were concentrated in the general vicinity of the MVCH campus and the Gospel Rescue Mission.  

Picture 2: Gospel Rescue Mission


 

 
    La Casa, Inc. provides short-term transitional housing and counseling for domestic violence victims and their children. They currently have 34 beds in their location, although they do maintain properties around the city. We were not granted access to these women to survey, but I made contact with the Director of La Casa and I personally trained the La Casa staff to conduct the surveys for Williams Demographics.

    Three other agencies which I did not contact during the project, but should be mentioned include The Community Action Agency of Southern New Mexico, which offers temporary housing to teen parents for up to 18 months, and Families and Youth, Inc. which also provides emergency shelter (15 beds) for up to 90-days and transitional housing (7 beds) for up to 18 months for youth. Southwest Counseling Center's Transitional Living Center is the largest provider for persons with mental illnesses who are homeless, supplying 20 beds split evenly between two homes.


Phase 1: Survey and Enumeration

    A training session was conducted on November 23, 2005. For this project, we were able to retain some of the more capable employees from the previous study, although several more had to be recruited. In total, we had 18 employees. At this two-hour meeting Dr. Williams and I gave an overview of the project and a detailed description of the purpose and methodology. This was to be an available subject, face-to-face qualitative interview consisting of twenty open and closed ended questions. Because BBC, the City, and Dr. Williams wanted to maximize accessibility to homeless persons, it was decided to conduct the surveys beginning on Thanksgiving Day and continuing until as many surveys as possible had been obtained. In this phase most of the surveys were to be conducted in fixed locations, specifically the MVCH campus and the Gospel Rescue Mission.

    Each individual was provided with a training manual written and compiled by Dr. Williams and me which included a step-by-step discussion of procedures to be employed in the field when performing the surveys. We paid particular attention to attitude and approach. In Appendix C, I provide a copy of the training manual in its entirety. The training packet contained: Interviewer instructions, survey questions, a letter from the City of Las Cruces, subcontractor release forms, and time sheets. As with the CDBG project, the Williams Demographics employees were also required to wear identification tags provided by the City. In this project, however, we instructed the team members to downplay their affiliation with the city. This decision was based on our belief that the homeless persons may be somewhat suspicious of "agents" of the government, regardless of capacity or intent.

    On Thanksgiving Day, we had eight team members strategically situated at the MCVH campus beginning at 10:30am, and seven team members situated at the Gospel Rescue Mission, beginning at 11:00. Both of these locations were chosen because they serve free Thanksgiving meals. Because we felt it would be an invasion of privacy to approach them while they were conversing in groups or while they were eating, we decided that all interviews were to take place outside.

    Despite our best intentions, the Thanksgiving Day surveys were wrought with unforeseen difficulties. The first difficulty to overcome was the fact that volunteers working at both locations, at times, outnumbered those who were coming to eat free meals. The second difficulty was that the meals were free to anyone, not just homeless persons or low-income households. As such, our survey teams had great difficulty in identifying qualifying subjects. As one of the team members observed, "Everybody looks like they may be homeless, but most are just here for free food." Differentiating between homelessness and non-homelessness was a difficulty that plagued all aspects of this phase. I mention this because not only did improper identification take time, it also offended many people who we thought were homeless, but were not.

    Another difficulty was rooted in exaggerations by the service providers. We were under the impression that there were, literally, at least 1,000 homeless persons in the city. We staffed accordingly to accommodate this many interviews, but after two hours of surveys, it became clear that the high numbers were possibly the result of duplicated counts. A number of those who ate at one location also ate at the other. Our methodology was able to eliminate duplicate interviews by asking each respondent if they had taken the survey, but I should point out that each contact with a homeless person who had taken the interview had a latent effect of increasing hostility towards the interviewers. At this point, communication between team members became essential.

    The final difficulty on Thanksgiving Day was the fact that many restaurants and churches throughout the city were also giving away free meals. We felt we missed a portion of the homeless population by excluding these locations, but various reports at the end of the day indicated that there was a poor turnout citywide. Because of the low turnout, it was decided that we had to take a more aggressive position in locating and interviewing homeless persons. 


TABLE 16: Phase 1 Homeless Person Surveys.
156 
Mesilla Valley Community of Hope, Gospel Rescue Mission 
14 
La Casa 
170 
Total Completed 
53 
Refusal at #6 
Source: Williams Demographics 

 
   
 Over the course of the following two weeks, key team members worked in pairs of two at various locations in town. This was a slow and tedious process, but ultimately we felt as though we were as thorough as possible. In Table 16, I provide the finals results for the survey in Phase 1. Although we reported only 53 individuals refused the interview at question number six, it should be noted that far more refused to talk to us at all. In fact, in many cases, persons we suspected who were homeless made great pains to avoid us.

    In order to triangulate the number of interviews with homeless persons, a city wide enumeration was also to be conducted. Williams Demographics was contracted to conduct the "unsheltered homeless person" count. According to HUD, an unsheltered person "…resides in a place not meant for human habitation, such as parks, sidewalks, and abandoned buildings (on the street)" (HUD, 2004, p. 4). BBC was responsible for conducting the count of "sheltered homeless persons." According to HUD, a sheltered homeless person "…resides in an emergency shelter or in transitional housing or supportive housing for homeless persons who originally came in from the streets or emergency shelters" (HUD, 2004, p.4).

    The Phase 1 citywide homeless person tally took place at 5:30am on December 8, 2005. In planning for this count, Williams Demographics was provided a list of sites where homeless persons were suspected to be living. Descriptions such as "under the bridge at HWY 70 and I-25" were the starting points; however, the fact that Dr. Williams and I were both familiar with the city proved to be the most useful asset in locating the homeless persons.

    To conduct the enumeration, six teams of two were given maps of the city with their area of coverage highlighted to minimize double count. Suspected areas of homeless person habitation were indicated for each team to verify. For two hours, each team canvassed their area with the intention of counting unsheltered homeless persons. This was the coldest day of the year to that point and locating the unsheltered population proved to be much more difficult than we had anticipated. Accordingly, the Williams Demographics crew only counted 46 unsheltered homeless persons, and of these, most were located on or near the MVCH campus. BBC ultimately reported that at that point in time count there were 178 homeless persons in the City of Las Cruces, which included 33 found in the detention center, possibly by choice due to the weather, and the 46 reported by Williams Demographics. (BBC, 2006)


Phase 2: Enumeration and Survey


 
    The Williams Demographics contract with BBC and the city required the homeless person enumerations and surveys to be conducted at two different points in time. The time surrounding Thanksgiving was chosen not only because of the probability of amassing a large number of homeless persons at a central location, but also because there are, due to the relatively mild weather, typically more homeless persons in this area in the winter months. In fact, on a side note, we discovered that social workers in several cities in Northern New Mexico actually dispersed bus tickets to homeless persons to seek better winter weather. Ideally by conducting the survey during two different seasons, a better representation would be achieved.

    Because of the timing of planning related issues, in Phase 1 we were forced to conduct the surveys first, then the field enumerations. After we considered the implications of this method, in Phase 2, we conducted the field count first, then the surveys. Considering all of the interviewers we employed were in school, and we had the privilege of choosing when to begin, we decided to conduct Phase 2 in March during the week of Spring Break. It was also decided to concentrate efforts to complete Phase 2 as quickly as possible.

    The unsheltered count was performed almost as it was in Phase 1. On Tuesday March 22, between 5:30am and 8:30am, six teams of two with highlighted maps were dispatched to specific sectors of the city. Because of the weather, or perhaps because the crew was more experienced, this count revealed 116 unsheltered homeless persons. After the enumeration debriefing and a two hour break, five members reassembled at the MVCH campus and five members at the Gospel Rescue Mission to interview homeless persons between the hours of 11:00am and 1:00pm. El Caldito, located on the MCVH campus, and the Gospel Rescue Mission both serve free daily lunches. In addition to lunch, Gospel Rescue Mission also serves a nightly dinner. We felt this location of town was a logical and appropriate place to start.

    Once the lunch crowd at the two locations dispersed, I dispatched the teams to the areas they had canvassed earlier in the day and had them attempt to interview identifiable homeless persons. This aggressive methodology is the primary difference between Phase 1 and Phase 2. In Phase 1, I lacked confidence in the safety, and unfortunately, the ability of some of the team members. In Phase 2, however, I had much more confidence in everybody and, more importantly, the attitude of whole team had changed considerably. They understood and appreciated the efforts of the project much better and this was evident in their enthusiasm. 


TABLE 17: Phase 2 Homeless Person Surveys.  
135 
Mesilla Valley Community of Hope, Gospel Rescue Mission, Downtown 
17 
La Casa 
152 
Total Completed 
31 
Refusal at #6 
Source: Williams Demographics


 
   
 After working the sectors of town, some of the teams returned back to the Gospel Rescue Mission to work until dinner began. On the following morning, each of the crews repeated the survey process in the assigned areas and reported back to the MVCH campus to visually identify any new faces. After two days of the crews canvassing the areas, the teams were able to identify the majority of homeless persons as either having been already interviewed or unable to approach. On March 30, after discussing the dwindling interviews and the increasing difficulty, we decided we had served our purposes. In Table 17, I report the final survey count for Phase 2. The surveys at La Casa were again completed by the La Casa staff.


Codebook for Survey Analysis

    Although not considered a part of the Williams Demographics contract with BBC, I also wrote a codebook for BBC to use when analyzing the data from the surveys. The codebook can be found in Appendix D. In order to explain the coding of the surveys, I provide two examples of the operationalization of the survey questions. The survey instrument was written by BBC to be conducted as a face-to-face interview with close-ended questions. Because the survey contained nominal level measurements, coding was somewhat easy. For most of the variables, like LONGLIVE, the only difficulty was to ensure that "refusals" were documented (coded) differently than "not applicable." These types of distinctions helped to maintain the statistical integrity of the data.

    LONGLIVE    Q5.
How long do you plan to live with your family and friends?

        1    7 days or less

        2    2-3 weeks

        3    1-2 months

        4    More than two months

        96    Refused

        97    Don't know

        98    Not applicable

        99    Blank

Several of the interview questions contained the possibility of more than one answer. In these situations it was necessary to name each attribute (answer) and code each separately as a dichotomous variable. An example of this coding process can be seen in the example below.

    Q9. Which of the following contributed to you being homeless? (Check all that apply.)

    AFFPLACE    Couldn't afford the place I was in

        0    No

        1    Yes

        2    Not applicable

    FINDPLAC    Couldn't find a place I could afford

        0    No

        1    Yes

        2    Not applicable


 
Although this codebook was relatively simple, the opportunity to operationalize the surveys into a codebook for statistical analysis was an important aspect of the internship. Quite simply, the completed surveys would be for naught if there were no means of analyzing the information they yielded. The codebook provided the roadmap for interpreting the survey results.


    In the course of this Internship Report, "Applied Demographics in the Public Sector," I have provided a deductive overview of sociology and applied demography. I began with a discussion of basic sociology versus applied sociology. Then, by narrowing my of area of interest within sociology, I situated the field of demography and population studies within discipline of sociology. Next, after an overview of the history and scope of Williams Demographics, I described specific duties and tasks during the completion of my internship. 


    The projects I completed at Williams Demographics required an ability to manage and coordinate people of various backgrounds and interests. For any number of reasons, managing students was very different than speaking with Directors and agents of various types of organizations. Although my success at this aspect of the project had more to do with my previous management experience than a background in sociology, my education in sociology was particularly important in the methodological execution of the interviews and the enumerations.


    During my internship and while researching and writing this report, not only did I learn to appreciate sociology on a deeper level by delving into to its origins and various sub-divisions, but eventually, I also began to realize that the career opportunities an education in sociology presents are practically boundless. At the most basic level, sociology as a discipline, provides students the ability to view real-life situations with a "sociological imagination." This paradigmatic view provides the foundation for understanding society and social interaction as the product of an intersection between individual biography and cultural history. By understanding the contribution of social and historical forces on individual behavior, it is my opinion that sociology students are equipped with a valuable tool in any career that necessitates an understanding of people.

         

 
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McKinney-Vento Act. 1987. General Provisions retrieved from:     http://www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/homeless/rulesandregs/laws/title1/title1.PDF


 
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