CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY OF FULLERTON FOUNDATION 12

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test frequencies and share these data with the survey sponsor. Ifthe staff debrief or frequencies review suggests modifications, the instrument is quickly revised and reprogranuned into CATI software before interviewing continues. Language Capabilities We provide multicultural research strategies as appropriate. We find the literal translation of English instrumentation to be insufficient, and we emphasize the development oflinguistically and culturally appropriate research instruments and methods. We regularly conduct research in the Latino and Vietnamese communities, and have conducted surveys in Korean, Cambodian, Armenian, Tagalog, and Mandarin. Our university setting allows us to access the linguistic and cultural expertise of members of many raciaVetlmic and national groups. The Cal State Fullerton campus affords access to a broad range of faculty expertise and student perspectives, representing many ethnic backgrounds and heritages. Translated survey instruments are progranuned into Ci3 scripting software that interfaces with the CATI system. This allows interviewers conducting English and non-English language surveys to read the questions on the screen and type verbatim responses into the CATI system. Procedures for handling these open-ended text responses are discussed in Appendix B. Sample Design A confidence interval for survey data refers to the level of precision required for estimates of population parameters based upon sample data. A generally accepted standard for policy-relevant research is a confidence interval of plus or minus five percent. When this standard is met, we can be 95% confident that the true population parameter lies witbin an interval extending five percent above and below any proportion derived from survey (sample) data. A population parameter is the result one would obtain if all universal access customers were interviewed. Sampling error, as indexed by the confidence interval around reported proportions, varies in relation to sample size and to the variability of survey responses (among other factors). In general, as the sample grows larger, the confidence interval grows narrower. That is, inferences about population parameters based upon larger samples are more precise (are associated with narrower confidence intervals) than inferences based upon smaller samples. Also, as the proportion of some attribute in the sample (e.g. overall satisfaction with the Santa Ana WORK Center) approaches a fifty/ fifty split, (say, 50% are dissatisfied and 50% are satisfied) sampling error increases, resulting in a wider confidence interval. Conversely, sampling error decreases as the proportion of a given attribute approaches a 6