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Methodology

The original client survey instrument utilized in the study which resulted in the Hunger Hits Home report was adapted and abbreviated for the purposes of this updating study. The interviewers were recruited from the membership of the Sacramento City/County Hunger Commission, and included associates and staff of the Commission. The interviewers were provided with training in interviewing techniques and in the use of the questionnaire.

Surveys were administered to approximately 45 clients, with the feedback from 44 being used in the tabulation of the reported responses; at least one respondent was determined by the interviewer to be incompetent to make valid responses, and that survey was not used in the analysis.

A sampling technique, which included consideration of site location, size and type of service, and general characteristics of clients served at the site, was used to select the following target sites for client interviews:

Interviewers were asked to complete surveys with at least seven clients at each site. Some were successful in exceeding that number which is why this report reflects the responses of 44 clients despite one interviewer's difficulty in surveying one site.

It should be noted that:

• An interviewer attempted, on several different occasions, to complete interviews at South Sacramento Ecumenical Parish, but was unsuccessful in doing so; therefore, clients residing in the south area of the county may have been underrepresented in the survey process.
• It was widely believed that, during the original study conducted for Hunger Hits Home, Spanish-speaking food closet clients were under-represented in the survey; therefore, special effort was made to secure feedback from Spanish-speaking clients by including Centro Guadalupe Food Closet in the survey process.
• As the preceeding statement indicates, interviewees did not represent a true random sample, but rather reflect the overall client population of food sites. The selected sites are representative of different types of emergency food programs operating in the county.
• In most cases, clients were approached by the interviewer, and this was accomplished on a random basis; however, it should be noted that at Loaves and Fishes, according to agency policies, the respondents were approached by program staff and asked if they would be willing to respond to a survey; also, at Women's Civic Improvement Center, respondents were selected by the interviewer in an effort to receive feedback from a multi-culturally diverse sample.

The data collected from the 44 respondents by the interviewers were hand-tabulated by a student intern assigned to the office of the Home Economist of Sacramento county's Cooperative Extension Branch.
The findings of the intern were reviewed by the writers of this
report.

The information reported from the various emergency food agencies was gathered over the course of several months by various means. For example, the participation data provided by the Sacramento Food Bank and Central Downtown Food Closet were in turn provided to the Hunger Commission by the Human Services Information system of CSPC. Other agency data were received during brief site visits with individual agencies conducted by VISTA volunteers in the spring of 1991.

The data received from the aqencies providing emergency food in the community was accepted as received and not verified.

Federal food program statistics were collected by the Hunger Commission directly from the agencies which are responsible for providing or monitoring the statistics.

In conclusion, the sampling of clients interviewed was approximately one quarter the size of the client sample used in the first study (44 compared to 173). This updated study was not an attempt to duplicate the original, which required several years to complete. However, it is the position of the producers of this report that the data contained within it indicates significant and challenging factors for the local community's efforts to address hunger.

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