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Merrickville Public School Volunteer Survey
2003
First ever results from The Merrickville Public School Statistical Agency's Volunteer Survey show that the school will be able to draw upon the skills and interests of numerous volunteers over the course of the school year. Over 100 individuals said they would be willing to offer some time doing a variety of activities.
111 Volunteers come forward – more of them women.
Out of 165 surveys sent to households, 108 were returned – a 65% response rate. Of these 108 completed surveys, an amazing 111 volunteers were identified. Furthermore, about one-third of the households surveyed would supply two volunteers. And, 13 households knew of people outside their home willing to volunteer.
Chart A: Large number of volunteers willing to help Merrickville Public School
Source: 2003 Merrickville Public School Volunteer Survey, Merrickville Public School Statistical Agency
The majority of the volunteers were female (68%). There are many reasons why people may volunteer or not, some of which may help us to understand this gender difference – availability, family composition, work arrangements.
Surveys were also sent out to 16 businesses in the Merrickville area. Although we had a lower response rate from the business community, three were willing to volunteer.
Note to readers
This release is based on the results of the first Merrickville Public School Volunteer Survey, available today. The survey was conducted by the Merrickville Public School Statistical Agency (Grade 8 class) in November and December 2003.
In mid-November the agency was appointed to help principal Mrs. Allen figure out how to create a data base that could help access community volunteers to enrich school activities. The agency also created this survey so it could find out how many people would like to volunteer at the school. The class learned about statistics and covered almost all of the Grade 8 curriculum for data management. No individual names have been used in this report to protect confidentiality.
Altogether, 165 surveys were sent out to households or individuals and 16 surveys were sent out to businesses. 108 household surveys were returned for a response rate of 65%. Fewer business surveys were returned.
The survey collected information on the willingness of individuals to volunteer in the school, the types of activities people were willing to do and the times and days when volunteers would be available to assist the school. More information on the survey design is available by contacting the Statistical agency.
Chart B: Large majority of volunteers were women
Source: 2003 Merrickville Public School Volunteer Survey, Merrickville Public School Statistical Agency
Special Events and career talks head the list of preferred activities among Merrickville School volunteers.
The preferred activity among Merrickville Public School volunteers is helping with special events such as track meets or Hoops for Heart – with 61 of 111 volunteers. Fifty-three volunteers were willing to come to the school for career-related discussions. The next most preferred activities were helping with academics, the arts, and finally with sports.
There was a fairly equal distribution of volunteers across all grade levels, Kindergarten to Grade 8. The number of volunteers ranged from 31 to 39 per grade. The class attracting the most volunteers was the Kindergarten. After that, the Grade 1 and Grade 8 classes were the next most popular.
Merrickville Public School volunteers tend to be morning people.
Using the information the Merrickville Public School Grade 8 class has collected, we have discovered that Merrickville Public School volunteers are "morning people". About 62% of volunteers, 69 of 111, preferred the morning whereas 53%, 59 of 111, would come in the afternoon. Volunteers could answer morning, afternoon or both.
Days of the week?
What is the most preferred day of the week chosen by volunteers? There isn't one! The days selected by the volunteers were very close. The difference between the most requested and the least requested day of the week was only 5 volunteers. This is a positive finding of our statistics because the volunteers are equally divided in the week – by choice. (Monday: 40 people, Tuesday: 42 people, Wednesday: 42 people, Thursday 41 people and Friday 37 people).
Merrickville Public School volunteers do weekends
We have discovered that 82 of our 111 volunteers would be able to volunteer on weekends for special events such as the Village Social – that's 74%.
We greatly appreciate volunteers' time and consideration to help out with our school. Thank you to all the volunteers for taking the time to fill out our survey. Now we have a clear idea of who will be willing to volunteer at Merrickville Public School. The list of volunteers is a very valuable resource for the staff at the school. They can easily refer to the list whenever a volunteer is needed.
To obtain more information, to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact The Merrickville Public School Statistical Agency (613-269-4951).
