.JPG)
tracking changes in the north country
Carsey Panel Study of Coos County Youth
The Carsey Institute is conducting a panel study of Coos County youth that will provide data about the attitudes and experiences of the county's youth as they approach young adulthood and face the decision to remain in their community, seek opportunities elsewhere, or leave for an education and then return. By following the entire populations of two age groups over a ten-year period, we will help North Country leaders gain a better understanding of young people’s decision making. The school superintendents in the county are very supportive of this study and the ways in which it will inform their planning and programs. In year 1 of the project, all Coos County 7th and 11th graders have completed confidential paper and pencil survey instruments and in-depth interviews with a sample of 60 students and their parents are currently being scheduled for the summer. Written questionnaires take approximately 45-60 minutes to complete and probe such issues as:
- aspirations for future economic success
- beliefs about economic opportunities in the local community
- attachment to the broader geographic region
- exposure to the broader world through such resources as high-speed Internet access, and
- satisfaction with family, school, and community relationships.
Intial results from the Carsey Youth Panel Study will provide baseline indicators of how the county’s young people are doing, what factors affect their hopes and aspirations and their connections to the community, and under what circumstances young people at risk succeed. The project is simultaneously collecting and analyzing data about the economic and non-economic factors that contribute to successful outcomes for the young people themselves and to their investment in the North Country.
What is truly unique and important about this project is the potential to track two entire age groups--young people in the 7th and 11th grades during the 2007-08 school year--and learn from their responses to what extent their current aspirations will be realized or unrealized. As the research team reconnects with the same students every two years, they will begin to see trends in the decisions young people are making about their lives and their goals. This will lead to the ability to then predict a wide variety of outcomes for youth growing up in Coos County today.
This research will be shared with educational institutions and agencies working with youth to inform the development of intervention programs specific to at-risk youth in New Hampshire’s North Country and elsewhere, integrating the best thinking and practice in the field of youth development with insights gained from this research.
Carsey researchers are committed to tracking participants closely over the ensuing decade in order to provide the most comprehensive data possible and we will use best practices developed in the field demonstrated to maintain participation, including the presentation of gift cards from locally owned businesses to participants from local businesses in appreciation for the time. These have included:
Dave’s Music Mania, 76 Main Street, Berlin NH
First Run: Home Entertainment, 148 Main Street, Colebrook, NH
Dube's Pittstop, 1564 Main Street, Pittsburg, NH
Stewartstown Video, Main Street, West Stewartstown, NH
Stone’s Pizza, 19 State Street, Groveton, NH
Generous support provided by the Neil and Louise Tillotson Fund of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation.