Life in Christchurch is a web based survey. It uses a snowball method to reach respondents, using a "word of mouth" approach rather than the more traditional random sample selection methodology.
The snowball method works on the premise that participants will then share the survey with further participants; it is called snowballing as (in theory) once you have the ball rolling, it picks up more "snow" along the way and continues to grow.
The advantages of using the snowball methodology are:
- it enables the targeting of specific groups of interest, such as people with disabilities or smaller ethnic groups
- it often reaches communities who are not easily accessible by more traditional survey methods, or formal consultation
This method provides results that are indicative rather than representative of the wider community. It also results in high numbers of respondents because the sample size is unlimited. Typically, each Life in Christchurch survey can receive between 2000 - 4500 respondents.
Respondents are able to sign-up to receive notifications(external link) when there is another opportunity to provide feedback on other Council services.
The survey is sent via email to respondents and available on the Christchurch City Council Facebook page. Participants are encouraged to share the survey through their networks and to friends and whānau.
Results from the Life in Christchurch survey series feed into the Community Outcomes monitoring programme at the Christchurch City Council and information is available to help inform Council decision making. The results and a summary report of each Life in Christchurch survey is available on the Council website(external link).