The North Carolina Youth Tobacco Survey (NCYTS) was conducted in the fall of 1999 by the NC Department of Health and Human Services and the NC Department of Public Instruction, in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and numerous partners from local school districts and health agencies. More than 12,000 students from grades 6-12 completed a 72-item self-administered questionnaire that included questions about tobacco use, knowledge and attitudes, exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, access and enforcement, media and advertising, and school-based tobacco use curriculum.
One of the greatest accomplishments of the NCYTS was the very high participation rate among schools. Of the 272 middle and high schools randomly selected for the sample, 266 (98%) agreed to participate. This high rate of participation was achieved despite a number of factors that would have predicted poor response- a narrow timeframe for schools to administer the survey, a growing resistance to surveys among schools, the potential sensitivity of tobacco issues in communities, and a natural disaster that had some schools closed for more than 3 weeks.
This session will focus on the multiple strategies used to increase participation among schools, including obtaining high level support from the Governor and State Superintendant of Schools, developing institutional support, building partnerships, building capacity, and identifying and creatively addressing barriers at the school and administrator level.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, the participants will be able to: 1) Describe the survey methodology used to implement the Youth Tobacco Survey. 2) Learn from the experiences in North Carolina with respect to state, county, and local level collaboration. 3) Apply the process of data collection utilized for the Youth Tobacco Survey
Keywords: Tobacco Control, Tobacco
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: North Carolina Division of Public Health
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.