Frequently
Asked Questions (FAQs)
 Who
we are
Becoming
a panelist
More
about our prizes
More
about your privacy
FAQs
by Cities & Towns
Who we are
Q: Who are the people running eTownPanel?
eTownPanel is a project of the Survey Research Unit at the School
of Public Affairs, Baruch College, New York. The founder and director
of the project is Gregg Van Ryzin, PhD, associate professor and
faculty director of survey research at the School of Public Affairs.
Staff members of the Survey Research Unit and graduate students in the
School of Public Affairs help run the project. The project is
supported financially by a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
Q: Why are you a .com, not a .org?
Most people type .com when trying to find a website -- and we
want people to find us! We also have rights to the domain name
eTownPanel.org, which will also direct you to our website. eTownPanel
is a university-affiliated, nonprofit project run as a public service
and research resource for communities and researchers. We are not a
private business.
Q: Who funds eTownPanel?
eTownPanel is a university-affiliated, nonprofit project funded by
a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Grants and sponsorships
support all general operating costs of the project. eTownPanel also
generates revenues from fees it earns from designing, setting up, and
hosting custom surveys. Contributions and sponsorships are always
welcome. Please contact [email protected]
Becoming a panelist Back to top
Q: Who can become a panelist?
Anyone 18 years of age or older who lives in the United States can
become a panelist.
Q: My city is not included in eTownPanel -- should I still sign
up?
Yes -- we encourage you to become a panelist even if your city or
town is not yet included in eTownPanel. Most of our surveys include a
national sample for comparison purposes, so well still invite you
to participate in most of our surveys -- and youll still get a
chance to win prizes. Plus, by joining, youll help build the panel
membership in your area which is what your city or town needs to
be included in eTownPanel.
Q: How do I sign up to be a panelist?
Just go to the Sign
Up page on our website, complete the form, and click the submit
button. You will then receive an email message asking you to confirm
your membership. When you respond to the confirmation email, you are
then added to our list.
Q: How often will I get a survey sent to me?
eTownPanel surveys all panelists at least once
a quarter or as often as once a month, depending on the area you live in.
And youll get a chance to win a prize with each survey. Of course,
as a panelist, you always have the right to choose whether or not to
participate in any particular survey.
Q: What kinds of surveys will you send me?
eTownPanel surveys focus on issues that matter to your community.
Many of our surveys deal with the performance of local government --
things like police protection, public schools, road maintenance, and
so on. Other surveys may focus on an important public issue in your
community -- like a proposed highway expansion or an environmental
issue. All of our surveys are sponsored by legitimate public,
nonprofit, or academic organizations. And,
all of our survey are short -- typically requiring
only 5-10 minutes to complete. We will not send you any
political, religious, or marketing surveys. And you always have the
right to choose which surveys you want or dont want to complete.
Q: Can I get my friends or neighbors to join eTownPanel?
Of course -- feel free to let others know about eTownPanel. The
more people who join from your area, the sooner we can include your
city or town in our survey results page. (However, please do not send
any unsolicited email or SPAM).
Q: How do I change my email address or update my information?
You can use your personalized update link to update your email
address or modify your preferences. This link can be found in
every message sent to you from our list, and in the list welcome
message. If you do not have a message with this link, then you
may request a copy of it via email. Simply go to the bottom of
our Signup Form,
enter your email address, and select the "Send Access Code".
We will email you a personalized link that will allow you to update
your account.
Q: How do I unsubscribe?
If you are already on our list and wish to unsubscribe, you can use
your personalized update link. This link can be found in every message
sent to you from our list, and in the list welcome message. If you do not have a message with this link, then you
may request a copy of it via email. Simply go to the bottom of
our Signup Form,
enter your email address, and select the "Send Access Code".
We will email you a personalized link that will allow you to
unsubscribe.
More about our prizes
Back to top
Q: How do you award prizes?
eTownPanel awards prizes in the form of Amazon.com gift
certificates. Several respondents to each survey are selected at
random as winners, and the gift certificates are sent to them via
email a few weeks after the survey closes. The gift certificates are
sent to the email address associated with the completed questionnaire
-- so please use your real email address and type carefully.
Q: How large are the prizes, and how many do you award?
With each survey we award multiple prizes of various sizes.
Typically, we send about fifteen awards of $20
each, although we may award more or larger prizes
for some special surveys. The specific awards for each survey are described in
the survey invitations you will receive or the survey welcome page.
More about your privacy
Back to top
Q: What will you do with my personal information?
The information you provide when you sign up, or when you
participate in a survey, is for research purposes only. When you sign
up, we collect only limited personal information we need to invite you
to participate in our surveys -- such as your first name (so we can
personalize our messages to you), email address, and zip code. This
information is never given to outside individuals or organizations,
even organizations sponsoring a survey. When you complete a survey, we
may collect additional demographic information from you such as age,
gender, race, and income (in broad categories). This information is
used only to classify and compare responses to survey questions and
not to identify you individually. We maintain a strict privacy and
confidentiality policy in accordance with the highest standards of
ethical survey research.
Q: Who has access to my information?
Only the researchers and staff of eTownPanel will have access to
your sign up information, such as your first name and email address.
We keep this information in a separate database from the one that
contains your answers to survey questions. If a nonprofit or
government agency uses our survey data, they will not know the email
addresses or any other identifiers of the people who completed the
survey. Outside groups that use eTownPanel to do a survey receive only
the anonymous answers to survey questions. Your sign up information
will always remain confidential.
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