JusticeZero

Trying to do some needed research on CF types, having a bit of a headache with some methods.
I'm looking at focusing on people who have become CF at about the same time as moving, or people who have stopped being CF at about the same time as moving, but i'm not sure how best to find good samples of either of those groups. I'm not looking for "Ooh, me!", i'm not at that stage - i'm looking for suggestions for a good method to get a good sampling of those people that is affordable and fast. Has anyone got any ideas?

enigmaT120

Maybe a poll?

JusticeZero

That's a how, I need to find out how to target the who before I can do anything with the how. Without trying to raise money to mail everybody in the country a series of letters, anyways. (The budget would cry.)

Machka 

CF = Carbon Fibre?

Artkansas 

Well, there's not a central place where we all hang out. I'd see if you can find other places like bike forums as well. Facebook may have a car free group, and Linked in, maybe pinterest and ******. Also look for cargo bike groups. This will get tougher if you are also looking for pedestrians, bus, train and airplane passengers.

One note, CF in the bicycle world usually applies to Carbon Fiber.

For your survey, I'd try survey monkey.

JusticeZero

Car-free. Not necessarily cyclists. (Actually, if I get mostly cyclists, there's something horribly wrong with my data. Cyclist carfree people are rare among the carfree, by trip.) The methods are a separate problem that's been taken care of. I don't need to know how to do a survey; I have all that. But I can't just try to get everybody to take it; if I get twenty thousand responses, and less than a thousand car-free people, i'm doing something horribly wrong, so i need to know how to target the survey more.

no1mad 

I associate CF with either Carbon Fiber or Cystic Fibrosis, depending on the context.

I found no Facebook groups/communities that were car free (a few care free, though). and I found one on Google+. Those two and BF is the extent of my social media.

Machka 

What exactly are you looking for?

You want to find people who went car-free when they moved house?

Are you looking world-wide? Or just in one country? Or maybe a selection of half a dozen countries?


I've got more questions/comments, but I'll start with those.

Roody

Get in touch with J.H. Crawford, a guy who has done a lot of research in carfree topics. He seems to be pretty open to inquiries, and he might have some ideas for you.

Facebook page
Carfree Cities website

Another organization is Undriving:

Facebook page
Website

It used to be fairly common to recruit research subjects with newspaper ads. Maybe craigslist or a facebook group? But talk with your academic advisor about sampling error and selection bias. You want to find a sample that accurately represents the population of carfree people.

Good luck! If you have other questions, let me know. I don't have much recent experience in social science research, but I will help if I can.

gerv 

An obvious place to look would be in groups that have moved into densely populated city. Yes.. NYC...

Maybe you can check out groups like this one Auto-Free New York! based in NYC of course.

You might be able to reach out to folks in various cities through forums like this one City-Data.com Forum: Relocation, Moving, General and Local City Discussions

Dahon.Steve

+1

He's going to have to buy a listing of names and address and send a mass mailing. The Real Estate Board of New York would have a good sample of data but I don't know if they'll give that information for free. I'm sure there a number of local public transit groups that have a large sample of members they might give you access if you tell them the purpose of your research. (I hope it's not get rich quick book on being carfree!)

I find it funny how every now and then we get someone who does not ride bicycles visiting the forums. This site for some reason pulls people from all walks of life. The carfree in general do not advertise this lifestyle and we all know why.

JusticeZero

It's doctoral research, and I *know* carfree aren't easy to find - that's why i'm trying to find populations that will at least hit them more densely. Read the travel literature and most of it just talks to people who drive cars, even while talking about how terrible auto dependence is.

Machka 

One of the difficulties with finding car free people is that it is often a temporary state ... car free until they are allowed to hold a drivers licence again ... car free until they can afford a car again ... car free until they move into a situation where they need a car. Even here on this forum only a very small number are actually car free.

But I'm still not clear on what you're looking for.

Walter S

I'm car free. And not hard to find. Especially if there's a prize

Machka 

Did you become car free when you moved? I think he's "focusing on people who have become CF at about the same time as moving".


But we're not clear on the boundaries. Is he looking for people of a certain age? In a certain location? Anyone at all worldwide?

Walter S

Yes. I did in fact.

Machka 

Now do you know where to find statistics about others who did the same? I think he's just looking for numbers at this point, not individual examples.

JusticeZero

*American,
*living inside the borders of a Metropolitan Statistical Area,
*moved within past 12 months,
*income equivalent to peers who are not zero car households.
Either:
--A: owned a car before moving and now is a zero car household who uses a car for less than 50% of trips, or
--B: did not own a car and used a car for less than 50% of trips before moving, and now uses a car for more than 50% of trips,


There are a few statistics, not as many as i'd like, and i'm trying to find a good way to focus in on A&B, or either A or B, by finding some fairly easy to find list or target that will reach a high proportion of one or both of those.

Machka 

I rather doubt there are going to be any nice neat easy lists which will provide you with that information.

In that case you might start with the department of transport, or whatever the organisation is that you register your cars with. You might also check with insurance companies. That way you might be able to determine who registered or insured a car, and they may be able to tell you whether the person moved in the last 12 months or not.

Of course, there might be a problem with accuracy if a person switched insurance companies or moved to another state. But those might be places to start.


You might also talk to transit companies to see if they've done any surveys of their customers to find out what sort of people are riding the bus or taking the train. If they have, one of the questions may possibly be whether or not the person owns a car.

JusticeZero

Oh, I know i'm not going to find any easy lists. Any approach will be fairly scattergun; I just need to be a bit more picky with where i'm aiming so that I get a higher proportion to work with than just randomly mailing people and crossing my fingers.

Roody

Why not advertisements in newspapers, craigslist, and/or facebook? This is a pretty common way to find subjects for social science research.

gerv 

You might also enjoy Cr*cker Jacks.

Walter S

Much better odds I'm sure.