Appendix B-3: Community Member Interview Guide

1. Opening
   • Thank you for taking the time to meet with me/us. We recognize that your time is valuable and we appreciate your participation.
   • We are graduate students from UNC School of Public Health. A requirement of our graduate program is that we work with a community in NC to conduct a community diagnosis. This means that we help the community to identify its strengths, weaknesses, and future directions. Our community is Trinity Court/Pritchard Park. The information we gather will be summarized and shared with the community. In addition, we will present our results to the community at a forum that will be held in the spring.
   • The purpose of speaking with you today is to find out about your thoughts and experiences of having lived in Trinity Court/Pritchard Park. We are interested in your opinions. There are no right or wrong answers.
   • Time: This interview should last 30 - 40 minutes. We would like to give you the opportunity to tell us as much as you would like, but (mention if you have limited time/ask if they do)
2. Confidentiality
   • Your comments will remain confidential. We will be reporting summaries of the comments made by community members but will not identify who said what, nor will we identify the names of the individuals we interview.
   • We would like to take notes and tape record this interview. Your input is important and we want to make sure that we accurately record what you tell us. Feel free to not respond to any question we ask, or hit the "Stop" button on the tape recorder at any time. After we are finished using the tapes for this class, the cassettes will be recycled or destroyed. Is this okay with you?
3. Ground Rules
   • Right to refuse: if at any time while we're talking you don't want to answer a question, you do not feel comfortable, or you would like to end the interview, please feel free to let me/us know.

Do you have any questions about anything I've said so far?

4. Self and Family
   • How long have you lived in this area?
   • Where did you live before Trinity Court/Pritchard Park? Why did you move here?
   • Who does you family consist of?
   • What kind of work do you/members of your family do? Where?
   • What activities in the community are you involved in?
   • Where do you attend church?
5. Children
   • What resources are available for children in this neighborhood? Are they adequate? Probe: Are there recreational facilities, childcare, etc. available?
   • What do you think about the quality of education children in Trinity Court/Pritchard Park are receiving?
6. Employment /Economics/Transportation
   • Where would you say that most people in Trinity Court/Pritchard Park work?
   • What do you think of these job opportunities? (Are they "good" jobs, "bad" jobs, etc.?)
   • How do most people get to work, school, grocery store, etc.? (i.e. what transportation is available?). Probe: How does this make it easier for you to get around?
7. Social Issues
   • What are problems you or your family have had to deal with?
   • What are the main problems of people in Trinity Court/Pritchard Park?
   • What kinds of human, social, or health services have you (or your family) used? Probe: What was it like?
8. Assessment of Community
   • What would you tell people about Trinity Court/Pritchard Park? Probe: What are other strengths or good things about Trinity Court/Pritchard Park?
   • How could Trinity Court/Pritchard Park be improved? Probe: What other problems/areas of improvement does Trinity Court/Pritchard Park have?
   • Would you consider Trinity Court/Pritchard Park to be a stagnant community, or a changing community?
   • What makes you think this? Is this something that you would consider to be good or bad for Trinity Court/Pritchard Park?
   • How do you feel about Chapel Hill? Probe: Is being a part of Chapel Hill a good thing for Trinity Court/Pritchard Park?
   • How do you feel about non-residents coming into Trinity Court/Pritchard Park? Probe: Are there specific groups whose presence is unwelcome?
   • How well would you say people know their neighbors?
   • If you needed help for some reason, who would you turn to?
   • What is the relationship between Trinity Court and Pritchard Park like?
   • What is the relationship between Trinity Court/Pritchard Park and the rest of Chapel Hill like?
   • How safe do you feel living in Trinity Court/Pritchard Park? Probe: What are our safety concerns?
   • Do you feel this is a safe neighborhood for children?
   • What are the rules at Trinity Court/Pritchard Park that you think are effective?
   • Are there rules at Trinity Court/Pritchard Park that you think should be changed? Probe: What do you think about the Trespassers List?
9. Community Activities
   • What activities are there in Trinity Court/Pritchard Park?
   • Who are the important people in the community for getting things done? Probe: Who are the formal/informal community leaders, etc.
   • What kind of projects have people at Trinity Court/Pritchard Park worked on together this year/five years ago/ten years ago? (How) were you involved in these efforts? Probe: Tenant's Association?
   • What groups of people are involved in community activities? Probe: Are people from all age groups involved?
10. Changes Over Time
    • Thinking about all of these things we've discussed above, has Trinity Court/Pritchard Park changed since you've been here? Probe: Is there anything different about Trinity Court/Pritchard Park now that was not the case since you've been here?
    • What do you think about these changes? Probe: Are they something that you consider to be good or bad?
11. Perceptions of the Future
    • How do you think Trinity Court/Pritchard Park will change over the next year/five years/ten years?
    • What do you hope to see happen in Trinity Court/Pritchard Park in the next year/five years/ten years?
    • What are your plans for the future? Probe: Do you think you'll be living in Trinity Court/Pritchard Park next year/five years/ten years?
12. Closing
    • Is there anything else I have not asked about that is important for me to know about Trinity Court/Pritchard Park?
    • Can you think of some other people in Trinity Court/Pritchard Park who we should speak to about Trinity Court/Pritchard Park?
    • What did you think of our interview questions? (Ask for first few interviews only.)

Thank you again for your participation!

Appendix B-2: Service Provider Interview Guide

Back to TOC

Appendix D: List of Persons Interviewed