North American Jewish Data Bank US Jewish Community Population Estimation Procedure: Guide for Interviewers Seeking Community Estimates Arnold Dashefsky, Ph.D. Doris and Simon Konover Chair of Judaic Studies Professor Department of Sociology, University of Connecticut and Director, Center for Judaic Studies and Contemporary Jewish Life University of Connecticut and Director, Berman Institute-North American Jewish Data Bank University of Connecticut arnold.dashefsky@uconn.edu and Ira M. Sheskin, Ph.D. Director of the Jewish Demography Project of the Sue and Leonard Miller Center for Contemporary Judaic Studies and Associate Professor Department of Geography and Regional Studies University of Miami isheskin@miami.edu
Finding Contacts 1. E-mail places for which we can find an e-mail addresses. E-mails should be sent out individually, and while we should attach the Excel spreadsheet with the population estimates, we should individualize each e-mail by putting their current population estimate in the body of the e-mail so that they need not open the spreadsheet to approve their current estimate as okay. 2. Use Google to try to find an estimate, particularly for small places. For example, if one were trying to find an estimate for Dothan, Alabama, Google Dothan Alabama Jewish. Even if you find an estimate you should continue with step 3 for this community and can tell your contact that you found this estimate and does it seem reasonable. 3. Call communities for which we cannot get an e-mail addresses or who fail to reply to the e-mail. a. Use www.jcca.org, www. u s c j. o r g, www.urj.org, a n d www.jewishfederations.org, and Orthodox web sites for leads on contacts in different communities. b. Google name of state and the words Jewish, Hebrew, synagogue, temple c. Map your potential communities and compare to current listings in the Excel spreadsheet. d. See if there are large places on the map that look like there should be some Jews there and then google the place name with the words Jewish, Hebrew, synagogue, temple e. Google names of existing communities in Excel spreadsheet with the word Jewish as well. (So, if you are looking for information on Fargo, North Dakota, Google Fargo, North Dakota Jewish.) Thus, you may have more than one contact in a community. 4. Check back periodically with Dr. Dashefsky or Sheskin to report an problems.
Introduction Hello, this is I am calling you from the University of Connecticut on behalf of the North American Jewish Data Bank. Dr. Sheskin of the University of Miami and Dr. Dashefsky here at the University of Connecticut are responsible for producing annual estimates of the Jewish population throughout the United States for the North American Jewish Data Bank. These estimates become the official estimates in a sense. We are currently trying to make an estimate for your community. This will probably take five minutes or so. Is now a good time to talk? DO LEAVE A MESSAGE WITH A CALL BACK NUMBER. In our current report, your community includes (define geography). Is this okay, or are there other places that should be included? Keep a map in front or you. If they start to name places too far from the principal city, we need to question it. The number of Jews shown for your community in the most recent report is. I would like to ask you a few questions and then we can decide if this estimate is reasonable for your area. (If they try to give you an estimate here, thank them, but say that you would also like some additional information.)
Questions for Jewish Community Population Contact Reporting Form, 2009 1. First, we need an estimate of the number of known households. Do you have a community-wide list of Jewish households? a. IF YES: How many households, not persons, but households who live in your area are on that list? OR b IF NO: How many synagogues do you have? Approximately how many households, not persons, but households belong to each synagogue? 2. Do any significant number of households spend at least four months of the year out of your area? What percentage might that be? 3. What percentage of households can you estimate belong to a synagogue? Before you answer, in almost all American Jewish communities, the percentage of households who belong to a synagogue is generally between 30% and 60%. Nationally, about 40% of Jewish households belong to a synagogue. (Give them a few examples that are geographically relevant.) See Table 1. 4. Do you have a Jewish Community Center? See Table 2. a. IF NO: Go to Question 4. b. IF YES: How many Jewish households, not persons, are members of the JCC? 5. Is this a mostly younger or a mostly older Jewish community? 6. Now we need an estimate of the household size in your area. How many persons do you think you have in the average household. Household size varies from 1.9 to 3.1 in American Jewish communities. Nationally, there are 2.3 persons in the average Jewish household. (Give them a few examples that are geographically relevant.) See Table 3. 7. What percentage of couples in this community are intermarried? 8. The next piece of information we need is the percentage of people in Jewish households who are Jewish. This varies from 69% to 96% depending on the community. Nationally, 78% of people in Jewish households are Jewish. (Give them a few examples that are geographically relevant.) See Table 4. 9. Do you have a guesstimate of the number of Jews in your area? OR So, is a good estimate of the number of Jews in your area. 10. Is there anyone else in this community who we might want to talk to before we come up with an estimate? Thank the respondent.
Table 1 Current Synagogue Membership Community Comparisons Base: Jewish Households Community Year % Community Year % Cincinnati 2008 60% Tidewater 2001 58% St. Paul 2004 56% Essex-Morris 1998 56% St. Louis 1995 56% Minneapolis 2004 54% Rochester 1999 54% Pittsburgh 2002 53% Hartford 2000 53% San Antonio 2007 52% Baltimore 1999 52% Cleveland 1996 52% Lehigh Valley 2007 51% Detroit 2005 50% Bergen 2001 50% Columbus 2001 50% Jacksonville 2002 49% Charlotte 1997 49% Harrisburg 1994 49% Palm Springs 1998 48% Monmouth 1997 48% Milwaukee 1996 48% Westport 2000 46% Wilmington 1995 46% Sarasota 2001 45% York 1999 45% Richmond 1994 45% Middlesex 2008 44% Atlantic County 2004 44% Boston 2005 43% New York 2002 43% Rhode Island 2002 43% Chicago 2000 42% St. Petersburg 1994 40% Miami 2004 39% Howard County 1999 38% Washington 2003 37% Philadelphia 1997 37% Martin-St. Lucie 1999 36% Los Angeles 1997 34% Orlando 1993 34% Portland (ME) 2007 33% Atlanta 2006 33% S Palm Beach 2005 33% Denver 2007 32% Tucson 2002 32% W Palm Beach 2005 30% San Diego 2003 29% Phoenix 2002 29% Broward 1997 27% San Francisco 2004 22% Seattle 2000 21% Las Vegas 2005 14% 1 NJPS 2000 40% 1 NJPS 2000 data are for the more Jewishly-connected sample.
Table 2 Current Membership in the Local Jewish Community Center Community Comparisons Base: Jewish Households Community Year % Community Year % St. Paul 2004 36% Charlotte 1997 36% Harrisburg 1994 31% San Antonio 2007 29% Rochester 1999 28% York 1999 27% Monmouth (Deal) * 1997 27% Jacksonville 2002 26% Cleveland 1996 24% Milwaukee 1996 24% St. Louis 1995 24% Richmond 1994 24% Pittsburgh 2002 23% Wilmington 1995 23% Hartford 2000 22% Bergen (Palisades) * 2001 21% Tidewater 2001 19% Lehigh Valley 2007 18% Minneapolis 2004 17% Tucson 2002 17% Orlando 1993 17% Detroit 2005 15% Atlantic County 2004 14% New York 2002 14% Miami (Alper) * 2004 13% San Francisco 2004 13% Sarasota 2001 12% Washington (Gr. Wash) * 2003 11% Los Angeles 1997 11% Atlanta 2006 10% Miami (Russell) * 2004 10% Washington (DCJCC) * 2003 10% Rhode Island 2002 10% Bergen (YJCC) * 2001 10% St. Petersburg 1994 10% Philadelphia 1997 8% W Palm Beach (Kaplan) * 2005 7% Broward (Posnack) * 1997 6% W Palm Beach (Boynton) * 2005 5% Miami (Miami Beach) * 2004 5% Washington (NOVA) * 2003 5% Seattle 2000 5% Monmouth (Western) * 1997 5% S Palm Beach 2005 4% Las Vegas 2005 3% iddlesex 2008 2% 1 Westport 2000 1% Broward (Soref) * 1997 1% Total in Communities with 2+ JCCs Bergen 2001 18% Monmouth 1997 13% Miami 2004 11% Washington 2003 9% W Palm Beach 2005 7% Broward 1997 4% 2 NJPS 2000 18% See footnotes to Table 7-20.
Table 3 Average Household Size Community Comparisons Community Year Average 1 Community Year Average 1 Howard County 1999 3.09 Monmouth 1997 2.79 Portland (ME) 2007 2.75 Bergen 2001 2.75 Buffalo 1995 2.74 Baltimore 1999 2.73 Westport 2000 2.72 Columbus 2001 2.70 Harrisburg 1994 2.68 Charlotte 1997 2.66 Wilmington 1995 2.66 Cincinnati 2008 2.64 Cleveland 1996 2.62 Detroit 2005 2.6 St. Paul 2004 2.6 New York 2002 2.59 Pittsburgh 2002 2.59 York 1999 2.59 Orlando 1993 2.59 San Diego 2003 2.57 Atlanta 2006 2.56 Minneapolis 2004 2.55 Tidewater 2001 2.55 Richmond 1994 2.55 Boston 2005 2.52 Rochester 1999 2.51 Hartford 2000 2.5 Los Angeles 1997 2.5 San Antonio 2007 2.49 Essex-Morris 1998 2.49 Lehigh Valley 2007 2.46 Denver 2007 2.45 Milwaukee 1996 2.44 Washington 2003 2.43 Phoenix 2002 2.43 Philadelphia 1997 2.43 Jacksonville 2002 2.42 Rhode Island 2002 2.41 St. Louis 1995 2.41 Chicago 2000 2.38 Seattle 2000 2.38 Middlesex 2008 2.36 San Francisco 2004 2.32 St. Petersburg 1994 2.32 Atlantic County 2004 2.31 Miami 2004 2.25 Martin-St. Lucie 1999 2.15 Tucson 2002 2.14 Las Vegas 2005 2.13 Palm Springs 1998 2.02 Broward 1997 2.02 W Palm Beach 2005 1.99 Sarasota 2001 1.99 S Palm Beach 2005 1.87 NJPS 2000 2.31 U.S. Census 2007 2.61 1 Average number of persons in Jewish households.
Table 4 Persons in Jewish Households Who Are Jewish Community Comparisons Base: Persons in Jewish Households Community Year % Community Year % S Palm Beach 2005 96% Miami 2004 93% Middlesex 2008 92% Detroit 2005 92% Bergen 2001 92% Baltimore 1999 91% Cleveland 1996 91% W Palm Beach 2005 90% Monmouth 1997 90% St. Louis 1995 90% Sarasota 2001 89% Broward 1997 89% Hartford 2000 88% Atlantic County 2004 87% Palm Springs 1998 87% Martin-St. Lucie 1999 86% New York 2002 85% Philadelphia 1997 85% Westport 2000 84% Los Angeles 1997 84% Buffalo 1995 84% Chicago 2000 83% Milwaukee 1996 83% St. Petersburg 1994 83% Cincinnati 2008 82% Lehigh Valley 2007 82% Minneapolis 2004 82% Harrisburg 1994 82% San Antonio 2007 81% St. Paul 2004 81% Rochester 1999 81% Orlando 1993 81% Washington 2003 80% Jacksonville 2002 80% Rhode Island 2002 80% Howard County 1999 80% Boston 2005 79% Tidewater 2001 79% Wilmington 1995 79% Richmond 1994 79% Phoenix 2002 78% Pittsburgh 2002 78% Tucson 2002 78% Atlanta 2006 76% Las Vegas 2005 76% York 1999 76% San Diego 2003 75% Essex-Morris 1998 74% Charlotte 1997 73% Denver 2007 72% San Francisco 2004 72% Portland (ME) 2007 71% Seattle 2000 70% Columbus 2001 69% NJPS 2000 78%
The North American Jewish Data Bank State Cover Page Your Name: State: Date: Community Institution Name Type of Institution * Contact Name Phone E-mail Completed? * O = Orthodox, C = Conservative, R = Reform, Rec = Reconstructionist, Fed = Jewish Federation, JCC = Jewish Community Center
The North American Jewish Data Bank Contact Calling Record Use one form for each contact in a community Your Name: State: Community: Contact Name: Phone: E-mail: Date of Call Time of Call Result Try calling both day and night. Never call on Friday after 4 PM or anytime on Saturday or on any Jewish holiday.
The North American Jewish Data Bank Contact Reporting Form Use one form for each contact in a community Your Name: State: Institutional Affiliation of Contact: Contact Name: Define Community Boundaries: Current Estimate: Fill in the above prior to making the contact. Question Year of Current Estimate: Response 1a) # households on com munity-wide list 1b) List synagogues and households 2) % households spend < 8 months in area 3) % Synagogue membership (Table 1) 4) # of JCC member households (Table 2) 5) Mostly younger or older 6) Household size estim ate (Table 3) 7) % couples intermarried 8) % in Jewish households who are Jewish (Table 4) 9) Respondents best guesstimate 10) Add contacts to state cover page Comments: