BUSINESS PULSE : ORANGE COUNTY ISSUES & ATTITUDES : How the Survey Was Conducted

The Times’ executive outlook survey, conducted by Mark Baldassare & Associates of Irvine, was mailed to the owners, chief executives or top-ranking on-site managers of 1,706 Orange County companies with 50 or more employees.

The three-page questionnaire was completed and returned in late March and early April by 562 recipients, for a 33% response rate.

Of the surveys returned, 370, or 66%, were from companies headquartered in Orange County, while 192, or 34%, were from companies with operations in the county but with headquarters elsewhere.

Companies with 50 to 99 employees accounted for 33% of the responses; those with 100 to 249 employees supplied 38% of the returns, while 29% of the completed questionnaires were returned by executives of companies with 250 or more employees.

Manufacturing companies supplied 35% of the responses; 34% came from retail and service industry firms; 13% were from finance, insurance and real estate businesses, 9% came from companies in the construction business, and 9% were in other categories.

Because the survey was not designed as a scientific random sampling, no margin of error can be computed.

It was the largest-ever mail survey of Orange County business executives.