"Stronger Voice For Rural Residents"
Through Survey By WIU Rural Affairs Institute

MACOMB — The views of rural Illinois residents will be heard in a more direct way through a panel of 2,000 Illinois residents who have agreed to participate in periodic surveys conducted by the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs at Western Illinois University, according to Dr. Paul Thistlewaite, project director.

"Several Midwestern states, such as Arkansas and Iowa, have similar panels in which the views of farm families are solicited through surveys several times a year," said Thistlewaite. "These views are incorporated into state and local decisionmaking. The surveys provide policymakers an excellent opportunity to gain direct input on a variety of issues."

According to Thistlewaite, the Illinois Rural Life Panel differs from the others because a broader group of residents are represented on the panel. Instead of including individuals employed solely in agriculture, the Illinois Rural Life Panel includes business owners, housewives, local officials, educational leaders and other rural residents.

"The randomly selected panel has been stratified to represent rural Illinois and is drawn from 76 rural Illinois counties," he added. "To our knowledge, this is the only on-going survey panel including such broad representation. The panel will provide needed information not only for Illinois, but also on national issues."

Surveys addressing attitudes toward financing alternatives for local public services, quality of services, environmental issues, education and economic development will be conducted.

The survey questions will depend on current issues being debated in Springfield and Washington, D.C. as well as on long-term trends affecting rural Illinois. The Rural Affairs Institute will keep the surveys compatible with similar surveys in other states to aid in comparison of data.

The Rural Panel is a cooperative effort with private agencies and academic institutions. Plans are to contact the panel twice each year beginning in December, asking for views on a wide range of issues. The findings will be reported in academic, professional and media outlets.

"The number of issues and concerns is so large that the main problem will be keeping the survey at a manageable size," Thistlewaite said. "We will stay with current issues and make every effort to collect information to support public decisionmaking."

"Collecting the views of rural residents is an important part of the overall Institute for Rural Affairs research program," said Dr. Norman Walzer, director of the Institute. "The Institute was created to monitor conditions in rural Illinois and to advise policymakers on issues that may need public attention.

"Only so much information can be obtained from secondary data sources," he added. "It is very important that we stay in touch with rural residents on a continuing basis to gather the most useful information. This panel will assist in that effort."

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December 1989 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 23