Oregon survey reaches out to each county and amplifies rural input; project leader hopes other states will follow

Wasco County's horseshoe.
(Photo by David Talley, Unsplash)

A new survey project, called "Oregon Voices," applied an unusual county-by-county questionnaire methodology to give rural residents a chance to voice their thoughts on a broad range of topics, reports Kristi Eaton of The Daily Yonder. Discussing the projects aims, Kasi Allen, the director of Learning Management at the Ford Family Foundation, told Eaton: "It was giving each county an equal chance to show up as opposed to doing a more representative sampling, where the [surveyed] population was distributed across the state." Eaton adds, "Allen said she hopes others will use the unique methodology to gain better insight into rural communities."

The survey results showed that when asked, many rural voices chimed in, with "the least populated county having the best participation rate," Eaton adds. The survey's results for each county are offered online. Wasco County's survey results are an example: It had 85 respondents and 87% of those respondents identified themselves as rural. Online survey results say, "Respondents express concerns about wildfire danger and climate change. Respondents love the natural beauty of the outdoors that surround them and find that people come together in times of need."

Allen told Eaton: "I really do hope we can have conversations about the methodology as we roll forward. I believe that if we are going to do research in the United States that raises up the voices of any community that has been sort of traditionally excluded, we are going to need to alter our methodology." Eaton reports, "Allen said overall, the results shows that the residents of Oregon live in a 'complicated world,' that is not 'black and white.'"