Blog Three- Administering the Survey

I administered surveys in the block groups south of Hwy 78 and east of Hwy 301. This area of Bamberg is comprised of a mixture of housing value and condition ranging from beautiful, well-kept historic homes, to smaller middle income and manufactured homes, to dilapidated shacks. I was surprised that the condition of the housing could have such a broad range in what seemed to be a less than one mile radius. Most of the houses were occupied with only a few abandoned homes and ‘fixer-uppers’ dispersed throughout. Except on Hwy 78, there did not appear to be any businesses in this section of the community, however, there were several small neighborhood churches. Due to the fact that the surveys were administered from 1:30pm to about 5:00pm, I thought that the results would be a little skewed, as those residents who are home between these hours tend to be house wives (generally in a higher household income bracket) and retirees. However, I was surprised when the first three surveys that I gave were to white males, two of whom were middle-aged. I was able to get a diverse sample of the population for the survey, which will be a more accurate depiction of the community and will enhance the outcome of our survey.

For the most part, the residents were willing to participate in the survey until around 4:00pm, at which point many of whom were just returning from work and did not want to spend the time. As expected, those residents who were most unwilling to take the survey lived in the upper middle-income section of the neighborhood. Perhaps it is not that this portion of the population was less willing to take the survey, but rather they were less interested, as they tend to be more satisfied with their community and less attuned to the areas in which the operations of the local government may be insufficient. Surprisingly, those living in the large historic homes were quite willing to participate, as were those residents living in the lower income section of the neighborhood. I had the opportunity of speaking with a young African American man living in the lower income section of the neighborhood who said that all he really wanted was a store: “a Wal-Mart or a Foot Locker, or something”. Although he did not want to fill out a survey, his remarks informed me that the young people in Bamberg probably have very few places to go. The middle-income minority participants seemed to be the most wary of taking the survey. Some said that their children always take care of ‘that sort of thing’, and others wanted to make sure that something was actually going to be done with the information they provided before they wasted their time. One older African American woman, in particular, was very skeptical of my intensions, and I assured her of our mission. I hope for her sake, and for the sake of the rest of the community, which seems to be eagerly awaiting something new and different, that this class will produce a plan that will really help the City of Bamberg and its people.