Research methods - Put People First! PA

In 2015, a team of researchers from Put People First! Pennsylvania (PPF-PA), the National Economic and Social Rights Initiative, and the University of Dayton Human Rights Center developed and administered a health care survey. We asked Pennsylvanians a series of questions about their access to health care, their experience with the health care system, and their opinions how the system should work.

Over a period of four months from September through December 2015, 305 people in 43 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties completed the survey. Rather than randomly selecting participants, we intentionally sought to survey people who are commonly excluded from access to health care. We reached respondents in a variety of ways: we posted the survey online in both English and Spanish, sent the survey out in the PPF-PA newsletter and on its social media page, knocked on doors in low-income communities that are known to face barriers to health care access, and surveyed people at a free dental clinic.

The demographics of the sample roughly reflect the diversity of Pennsylvania:

Age

10%	18 to 25
40%	26 to 45
32%	46 to 64
17%	65 or older

Gender¹

65%	Female
34%	Male
2%	Trans*

Race & ethnicity²

2%	Asian & Pacific Islander
17%	Black / African American
4%	Latino / Hispanic
1%	Native American / Alaska Native
69%	White
6%	Multiracial
1%	Other

Country of origin

91%	Born in the United States
9%	Born abroad

Household income

26%	less than $22,000
18%	$22,000 – $31,999
30%	$32,000 – $63,999
15%	$64,000 – $99,999
11%	$100,000 or more

County of residence

Survey responses were collected from residents of the following counties:

Adams
Allegheny
Beaver
Bedford
Berks
Blair
Bradford
Bucks
Bucks
Butler
Cambria
Chester
Clarion
Clinton
Columbia
Cumberland
Dauphin
Delaware
Elk
Erie
Fayette
Greene
Indiana
Juniata
Lancaster
Lebanon
Lehigh
Luzerne
Lycoming
Monroe
Montgomery
Montour
Northampton
Perry
Philadelphia
Potter
Schuylkill
Synder
Tioga
Union
Washington
Westmoreland
York

¹ “Female” and “male” include people who identified themselves in the survey according to a single gender. “Trans*” includes everyone who identified themselves as transgender and/or identifying as both female and male, and is a term that includes people who identify as transgender, transsexual, gender-variant, genderqueer, gender fluid, agender, two-spirit, and gender non-conforming.

² “Multiracial” includes every respondent who identified as such and/or with more than one racial or ethnic group. Our multiracial respondents include people who identified with two or more of the following categories: Arab, Asian and Pacific Islander, Black / African American, Latino / Hispanic, Native American / Alaska Native, and White. “Other” includes people who identified as Arab or Caribbean.