Economy
Business Survey
Early in 2007, Arizona State University contracted with the Behavior Research Center of Phoenix to develop and administer a questionnaire that addresses competitiveness and innovation issues facing Arizona businesses. The project consisted of three phases:
- A pilot telephone survey in the Phoenix metropolitan area, with many questions and a small sample
- An internet version for the Phoenix metro area, with many questions and a larger sample
- A telephone survey covering the entire state with fewer questions and a large sample
The following discussion and the results presented on the website are specific to the third phase. The questionnaire included questions central to both competitiveness and innovation. A state may be competitive, but it may not be a haven for innovation. Competitiveness focuses on the comparative advantages of a state, which could include factors such as the price of labor or land that are not particularly important to innovation. In addition to the usual competitiveness issues, the survey sought to identify the constraints on the ability of businesses to innovate and to profit from those innovations.
The sample for the survey was selected from a list of business leaders and high-level managers - people who own or run businesses in the state of Arizona - obtained by the Behavior Research Center. The sample size was 452 - more than the 385 necessary for statistical purposes given the number of businesses in the state. The design excluded companies with fewer than 10 employees.
The survey was conducted by telephone from the offices of the Behavior Research Center in Phoenix over the course of a month (April 2007). Most of the survey questions had multiple-choice answers. A few open-ended questions were included as a cross check. Participants, according to federal guidelines, were allowed to skip questions.
Only aggregate results are available. The sample size is inadequate to provide any results for specific regions of the state or for specific industries. Due to privacy issues, the names of the participating companies and individuals are not available.
ASU plans to repeat this telephone survey so that competitiveness and innovation issues within the state can be tracked over time.
