Salt Lake City’s Biannual & Panel Survey Process
Why Does the City Conduct a Biannual & Panel Surveys?
The city conducts surveys to gather feedback from residents on various topics, which helps inform city policies and services. The biannual survey also tracks changes over time and analyzes long-term trends.
Survey Methods & Partnership with Y2 Analytics
We partner with Y2 Analytics, a research firm specializing in survey design, data collection, and analysis, to ensure our surveys are neutral and focused on essential city service questions. They follow research industry standards to make sure our data is high quality and consistent over time. They utilize address-based sampling to successfully obtain broad coverage of all Salt Lake City residents. Our surveys typically take between 10 and 15 minutes to complete.
How Survey Participants Are Selected
- Survey participants are selected through a random sampling process to ensure a diverse and representative group of respondents.
- Y2 Analytics send postcards inviting them to participate in an official city survey. Participants are asked to complete the survey online using a unique identifier provided in the invitation.
- Both the invitation and survey are offered in English and Spanish.
Biannual Survey vs Panel Survey
- The biannual survey is conducted every two years to gauge changes in quality of life over time and tracks approval of the city and the services we offer. Panel surveys capture public sentiment on important and timely civic matters.
- The most recent biannual survey was conducted in April 2024.
- The city plans to conduct 2-3 panel surveys per year.
- The panel survey draws from a sample population using utility bill addresses and emails, while the biannual survey utilizes address-based sampling. Renters, in particular, are underrepresented with the panel survey approach. To address this, Y2 Analytics uses standard statistical methods to weight the data, ensuring that renters are better represented. However, the City acknowledges the limitations of the utility billing-based panel surveys compared to USPS address-based sampling.
Survey Results
Other City Surveys
City departments conduct their own independent surveys focused on specific projects or initiatives. Salt Lake City believes that public input is very important in making the right decisions for our City. Visit: https://www.slc.gov/feedback/ for a list of projects that are currently collecting feedback and a list of reports from recently closed surveys.
Overview of the Biannual and Panel Survey Committee
The Survey Committee is comprised of senior members from the Mayor’s Office, City Council Office and IMS’s Public Affairs Lab. The Innovation Team coordinates the committee and communicates feedback to Y2 Analytics. The Committee decides on the topics, and Y2 develops the questions. All final questions are approved by the Survey Committee.