HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-09-11-2020-min (Demographic Change Subcommittee)Town of Lexington
Subcommittee on Demographic Change
September 11, 2012 Meeting Minutes
Present: Nancy Corcoran - Ronchetti, Pat Costello, Margaret Heitz, Bhumip Khasnabish, Dan
Krupka, John Lee, Susie Lee - Snell, Hua Wang (for Peter Lee, CARL)
Guest: Marian Cohen, Ph.D., Dept. of Sociology, Framingham State University. Marian is a
Lexington resident and member of the 2020 Vision Committee.
The meeting was called to order at 7:40 pm.
The subcommittee approved the minutes of its meeting on August 14.
Completed Action Items
• Contact local real- estate agents as potential guess speakers to future meetings - Susie
Lee -Snell and Albert Huang
Susie contacted Diamond Hayes, Wm. Raveis Realty, and invited her to speak at our
November meeting.
• Invite and confirm Marian Cohen to the September 11th meeting - Dan Krupka
Done. Marian attended this meeting. (See notes below.)
Current Action Items (to be reported on at the next meeting on October 9 th )
• Revise interview questionnaire based on suggestions from the meeting — Dan Krupka
• Review revised questionnaire when submitted by Dan — All members
• Identify potential interviewees from list of active Asian board and committee members
— Dan Krupka
• (carried over) Provide a draft guideline to be used for guest speakers — Margaret
Heitz
• (carried over) Assess steps taken by Massachusetts communities that have experienced
significant demographic changes in recent years. Determine what worked and what
did not, and what could be applied in Lexington.
• Research Newton's efforts to increase participation from their Asian - American
community, based on information from Asian members of Newton's Board of
Aldermen. — Albert Huang
• Other towns to investigate: Acton, Boxborough, Westborough— TBD
Discussion
We asked our guest, Marian Cohen whose work involves gathering and analyzing data from
human population groups, to advise us on how best to gather information about the
experience of Asian citizens with town committees and boards.
She advised us on the pros and cons of using focus groups versus interviews to get
information. Interviews are more informative.
Focus groups — Group size should be 5 -10 people. It is less time intensive than
individual interviews. Can produce "group think" rather than individual insights. The
result is information about the group, not the individuals. Can bring new questions to
the surface that were not considered before.
Interviews — More time and labor intensive than a focus group. More chance to
probe responses. Individual insights.
On planning for and conducting interviews, Marian shared these points:
• A rule of thumb: The interviewer should look like the interviewee to help establish a
comfort level.
• One -on -one interviews are better than two -on -one, which can be intimidating.
• Make the process neutral; e.g. don't make assumptions about the topic or the interview
subject's experience.
• It is easier to interview activists than non - activists.
• Draft a consent form for the interview subject. It should include a statement that our
report will not list the names of the interview subjects, only that they were on a Town
board or committee or on a PTA and our commitment not to quote an interview subject
without first requesting permission. One signed copy of the consent form will be given
to the interview subject and the other will be retained by the Subcommittee.
• The data from each interview can be entered on a spreadsheet on which the interview
subjects are identified solely by a number. The key is to be kept on a separate
document.
Other general advice included:
• Have practice sessions to sharpen interviewing skills
• Avoid communicating an agenda to the subject; if possible, use interviewers who are
not on our committee.
• Interviewers should ask questions exactly as worded.
• If an interesting insight arises spontaneously from the subject, it is okay to ask a
probing question to follow up, but it must be done carefully without leading the
interview astray.
• All interviewers should use the same questions
• Keep questions open- ended; e.g., "You are participating. Why do you think your peers
are not ?"
Next meeting: October 9th. Robin Dowling Grant will be our guest at the start of the meeting.
Minutes submitted by Margaret Heitz
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