Many Say No To
Population Survey
JULIE WIENER
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
New York
he sponsor of a large-scale study
of American Jews may have to
significantly reduce the total number
of "core Jews" interviewed, due to
difficulty finding enough willing
subjects.
Unless United Jewish Communities,
the New York-based umbrella for
North American federations, is able to
raise 5600,000 for a massive phone
campaign in the next few weeks, the
National Jewish Population Survey
2000 may be based on only the 3,100
interviews it has conducted since
August 2000 — not the 4,500 original-
ly envisioned — a drop of 31 percent.
Researchers also are interviewing
approximately 500 people who have
Jewish roots but no longer identify
themselves as Jewish.
Though less grand than the original
plan, the sample of 3,100 is still 1,000
more people than were interviewed for
the 1990 version of the study, and triple
the sample size of many Gallup polls.
UJC officials and researchers insist
that the S5 million study will be use-
ful even if it is limited to the 3,100
core Jews who already have responded.
However, researchers say the smaller
sample size will make it harder to study
sub-populations within the Jewish
community, such as college students,
the elderly or those living in rural areas.
Based on 40-minute telephone
interviews with Jews across the coun-
try, the National Jewish Population
Survey 2000 is an effort to get a broad
snapshot of American Jews. It seeks
information ranging from intermar-
riage rates to philanthropic habits to
religious attitudes and observance.
Results of the study will be released
this fall and are expected to influence
funding and policy decisions of Jewish
organizations for the next decade.
Even before interviews began last
August, researchers worried that it
would be difficult to find enough Jews
willing to be interviewed.
The difficulties stemmed from the
wide dispersion of Jews throughout
the country, the fact that Jews repre-
sent a small percentage of the overall
American population and a wide-
spread fatigue with telemarketers and
telephone pollsters. Li
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