Excellent cooperation rate reached about one-third of the way into the interviewing

The St. Louis Jewish Community Study has received additional funding support from the Lubin-Green Foundation, a supporting foundation of Jewish Federation of St. Louis, and the Morton J. and Morton D. May Fund of the Greater Saint Louis Community Foundation. They join Terry and Harvey Hieken in funding the survey that will help local synagogues and other Jewish organizations determine the size of the local Jewish community, assess residents’ needs, and inform community planning.

“The support the study has received is a reflection of both the need for this data and the professionalism and integrity of the process,” says Andrew Rehfeld, Ph.D., president and CEO of Jewish Federation of St. Louis.

Since calling began about a month ago, interviews have been conducted with approximately 350 Jewish adults. Calls will continue until 1,000 interviews are conducted, to draw a representative sample of Jewish households in St. Louis. According to Jewish Policy & Action Research, the independent agency that is conducting the study, the cooperation rate (percentage of people willing to participate in the study when called) is 90.8 percent. Typically, the rate ranges from 60 to 80 percent.

“Participation is critical to the success of this effort, and we’re pleased that so many community members are willing to take the time to answer the survey questions,” says Susan Scribner, senior planning and allocations associate for Federation. She says that the phone number and name that will show up on caller ID is 314-442-3790 and “St. Louis Community Study.”

The findings of the study will be widely distributed in a detailed report later this year or early in 2015.