Share survey research costs and collect high-quality data
Individualized research on an affordable budget! The Waterloo Region Matters Survey is a unique opportunity for researchers, agencies and organizations with limited budgets to field their own survey questions while sharing the cost of conducting the survey research. The SCSRU conducts the Waterloo Region Matters Survey on an annual basis.
The next wave will start in 2025.
To be notified by email about the upcoming 2025 wave, please click here.
Benefits:
- Collect survey research data from a regional random sample that is representative of the population
- Participate at a fraction of the cost of an independent telephone and web study
- Utilize your questions to test research concepts such as:
- gauging public opinions on specific issues
- measuring awareness and usage of services or products
- refining survey questions for other research
- Use the expertise at the Statistical Consulting and Survey Research Unit to:
- ensure survey questions are structured to reduce bias
- collect the highest-quality data
- maximize response rate
Key Details:
Study population: Adult residents within Waterloo Region, including Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge and the four townships.
Sample size: ~500 completed surveys. Survey weights will be computed to make the sample representative of the study population.
Methodology: Random-digit dialed (RDD) telephone (using both landline and cell phone telephone numbers), recruit to web address-based sampling (ABS) and web surveys. RDD sampling of households within the Waterloo Region population and random selection within the household are used in initial recruitment by the Statistical Consulting and Survey Research Unit. This approach, along with ABS which uses postal addresses to reach households based on demographic data in different postal code areas, more accurately represents the Waterloo Region compared to non-probability sampling methods, such as recruiting members from web panel firms or visitors to an organization website. The sample used for the web component of the Waterloo Region Matters Survey was originally recruited using RDD. Having a random selection of respondents and data that are representative of the population are important aspects of data relevance and utility. The addition of ABS recruitment was added in 2024 to better target young respondents, who are difficult to recruit. This combination of sampling methods ensures that households meeting the diverse characteristics of the region can accurately be targeted and recruited to the study.
Cost per question: $1,000 - $1,500 depending on the complexity of the questions and number of participating researchers. There is a minimum commitment of 5 questions.
- Includes data from standard survey demographic questions such as age, gender, employment status and household income.
- Includes a codebook, data file in SPSS or Excel/CSV format, frequency tables that provide the detailed distribution of the survey responses and technical report summarizing the conduct of the survey. Data analysis or reporting of survey results is not included but can be added for an additional fee.
- The SCSRU handles the application and submission process for the UWaterloo ethics review
If you would like to be added to our client distribution list about future Waterloo Region Matters surveys, please click here. For more information about the Waterloo Region Matters Survey or the Waterloo Region Matters web survey panel, please email Reem Tawfik or call 519 888-4567 ext. 35071.
Can't wait until the next Waterloo Region Matters Survey?
Consider using the Waterloo Region Matters web survey panel. The SCSRU maintains a small probability-based web survey panel that is fielded in conjunction with the Waterloo Region Matters Survey. For more immediate projects that do not require large sample sizes of Waterloo Region residents (e.g. n=300 respondents or fewer), a web survey can be fielded at any time.