FAQ
- What is the Soul of the Community (SOTC) study?
- How was the study conducted? Who was included in this 2009 survey?
- What geographical area was included in this survey? Why were these areas chosen?
- Why did the Knight Foundation use Gallup for this project?
- What is community attachment (CA)?
- What about the results from your survey suggests there is an association between community attachment and local economic growth?
- What are the factors that drive community attachment?
- What are social offerings?
- What is openness?
- What is the difference between a community characteristic that is a strength versus a community characteristic that is a driver of community attachment? What is a critical opportunity?
- Don’t these findings just reinforce what we already know about our community?
- What are the next steps for this study? What tools is Knight Foundation providing to our communities to increase community attachment?
- What new information have you received in year two of this study?
- Does your new information confirm that community attachment drives local economic growth?
- Who are you giving this information to, and what are your recommendations based on your findings?
- How long will it take to confirm if community attachment drives GDP or the other way around? What will this confirmation provide us?
- What additional information do you expect to learn in the third year of your study?
1. What is the Soul of the Community (SOTC) study?
Soul of the Community is a three-year study that explores what community qualities influence residents' loyalty and passion for where they live and how those feelings relate to indicators of community well-being such as local economic growth.
Funded by Knight Foundation and conducted by Gallup, the study aims to determine the factors driving community attachment so community leaders can ultimately affect this emotional pull and potentially increase local economic growth.
In a globalized world, where places are competing for the best talent, leaders need to understand what factors matter in attracting people to their community. The study provides this critical information.
2. How was the study conducted? Who was included in this 2009 survey?
Gallup interviewed a random, representative sample of 400 adults (age 18+) in most communities and 1, 500 adults in Detroit, Charlotte and Akron; nearly 14,000 people were surveyed in total across the 26 communities from Feb. 17 through April 25, 2009.
Fifteen-minute telephone interviews covering 73 questions were conducted in English and Spanish. Cell phone numbers were included as part of the potential sample.
Data were weighted to reflect the known adult population by age, gender, race and ethnicity based on U.S. Census data within each community.
3. What geographical area was included in this survey? Why were these areas chosen?
Gallup used the U.S. Census definitions of the Knight community region. For the most part, the MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area) was used. However, in a few cases the µSA (Micropolitan Statistical Area), MD (Metropolitan Division) or zip code definition of the community area was used.
Areas were chosen to provide a regional view of Knight communities.
Census definitions align with external performance data such as local GDP, population growth, health, welfare and educational data necessary for analysis. It also allows for merging with other administrative data for additional analyses.
4. Why did the Knight Foundation use Gallup for this project?
Gallup is one of the most trusted names in polling.
Gallup is on the cutting edge of behavioral economics.
Gallup has developed and measured the idea behind emotional attachment in the workplace and communities – both nationally and internationally. The Soul of the Community project takes advantage of all that previous work to provide the most comprehensive measurement model to date.
5. What is community attachment?
Community attachment is the loyalty and passion people feel for where they live. It is an emotional connection that goes beyond residents’ satisfaction with the community. The Soul of the Community study seeks to understand what things about a community drive this loyalty and passion for place so we can potentially further connect residents to their community.
6. What about the results from your survey suggests there is an association between community attachment and local economic growth?
Attachment levels of the 26 communities were compared to local GDP growth (economic growth) over five years and show an important statistical relationship. That is, over five years, GDP growth was highest in communities with the strongest community attachment.
7. What are the factors that drive community attachment?
SOTC identified 11 domains with varying levels of impact in driving community attachment:
1. Openness: How welcoming the community is to different types of people.
2. Social offerings: Entertainment infrastructure for people to meet each other and how much residents care about each other.
3. Aesthetics: An area's physical beauty and green spaces.
4. Education: Quality of K-12 schooling and local colleges and universities.
5. Basic services: Infrastructure supports, including highways, housing and health care.
6. Leadership: Rating of leadership and whether elected officials represent residents’ interests.
7. Economy: Local economic and employment conditions.
8. Emotional wellness: The mixture of mental and physical well-being.
9. Safety: Local crime and safety conditions.
10. Social capital: The personal connections residents have to each other.
11. Civic involvement: Voting, volunteering, attending meetings, and working for change.
Openness, social offerings and aesthetics consistently proved to be the key drivers of community attachment across the Knight communities in both years of the study.
8. What are social offerings?
Social offerings is the social infrastructure that allows residents to enjoy their community together.
It comprises vibrant nightlife, good places to meet people and residents caring for one another.
As social offerings is the #1 driver for attachment in many communities, providing a strong entertainment infrastructure and fostering a sense of community caring should be prioritized.
9. What is openness?
Openness is the perception of how welcoming a community is to different types of people, including people with young children, senior citizens, college graduates and minorities, among other groups.
Results suggest that openness matters most in attaching residents to place in larger urban Knight communities.
10. What is the difference between a community characteristic that is a strength versus a community characteristic that is a driver of community attachment? What is a critical opportunity?
A driver is any community characteristic found to matter to community attachment. It does not indicate whether or not the community is performing well in that area.
A strength is any community characteristic that is highly-rated by residents and matters to community attachment. Strengths should be leveraged by communities. A critical opportunity is any community characteristic that is low-performing, yet matters for community attachment.
11. Don’t these findings just reinforce what we already know about our community?
Likely so. However, having empirical evidence that validates these perceptions is important and useful as a first step toward moving the conversation forward. Additionally, the study explicitly identifies the community characteristics that impact residents’ emotional connection to their communities, which is critical to finding ways to build resident attachment.
The study also moves the conversation forward by examining the relationship between attachment and economic growth.
12. What are the next steps for this study? What tools is Knight Foundation providing to our communities to increase community attachment?
Survey information, raw data and key findings will be available on the study’s website for public review and feedback.
Knight Foundation will host community forums to share results, gauge feedback and encourage the application of survey findings to existing and potential community projects.
QUESTIONS SPECIFIC TO YEAR TWO
13. What new information have you received in year two of this study?
In 2009, the study found that the worst economic crisis in decades still did not result in the local economy being a key factor in residents' passion and loyalty for their community. The recent economic crisis gave the 2008 top drivers – social offerings, openness and aesthetics – a good test. If the economy was ever going to become a top driver in resident attachment, it was likely this year. But those top drivers held, demonstrating their importance in attaching people to place. The correlation between economic growth and residents’ emotional attachment towards where they live increased using updated GDP figures in 2009.
14. Does your new information confirm that community attachment drives local economic growth?
While we still can’t confirm that community attachment drives GDP, the correlation between economic growth and residents’ emotional attachment towards where they live has increased using updated GDP figures in the second year of study.
15. Who are you giving this information to, and what are your recommendations based on your findings?
We are giving it to community leaders (elected, business, nonprofit, government sectors) and the general public. We find that this information is of interest to many different sectors, so we are trying to disseminate the data as widely as possible. We encourage our communities to find ways to apply this information to their work and let us know what they are thinking about it. We also want folks to explore the raw data for themselves and see what other questions could be answered with the data – and to let us know what they are finding out.
16. How long will it take to confirm if community attachment drives GDP or the other way around? What will this confirmation provide us?
Gallup’s researchers are continuing to look at this issue. However, in other places Gallup has found that in fact it is emotional attachment that drives GDP growth. If indeed community attachment drives local economic growth, then by pinpointing the qualities that drive residents’ loyalty and passion for their community, local leaders know which levers to push to influence both residents’ feelings about their community and potentially its economic well-being.
17. What additional information do you expect to learn in the third year of your study?
We will continue to confirm current findings on what affects attachment, to see if they continue to hold. We also will continue to monitor communities’ attachment levels and which demographic groups are seeing an increasing or diminishing attachment to place. We will also monitor “brain drain” potential in our communities. Lastly, we hope to be closer in being able to better describe the relationship between community attachment and local GDP growth.
