FAQs
The Strong Communities Survey is being conducted by Boston Children’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School and is funded by the National Institute of Justice.
This study is being done to learn more about individual experiences people have—both good and bad—that relate to how they view using violence for political change. This information will help us understand what we can do to build stronger, safer communities.
You have an opportunity to help your community. This is the first national survey on this topic to be conducted. By participating, you can make sure that your experiences and perspective are represented. The information that you provide will help states around the country take steps to build safer, strong communities.
You will also receive $40 as a thank you for participating.
Any member of your household who is over 18 is invited to participate. One person per household only, please.
Simply click here or on the ‘Take the Survey Now’ button at the top of the Overview page. You will be asked to enter the unique access code that you received in the mail.
The data collected from the survey will be summarized to describe experiences that are related to different views on using violence for political change.
Data from this study will also be reported to the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD). Your unique numeric access code will not be deposited in this database. We will do everything we can to protect your privacy before sharing your de-identified information with other researchers but, despite best efforts, there is still a very small chance that you could be re-identified. To minimize this risk, we will follow all relevant data protection laws.
Your information will be included as part of the overall summary of the data, and will not be used individually. The overall summary will be used to help communities decide what kinds of programs could make their community safer and stronger.
After you complete the online survey, we will send $40 to this address in the form of a Visa giftcard, which is like a prepaid gift card. This card will be mailed to you. We will mail it to the same address that we mailed the survey recruitment materials to. We will not be collecting your name, email, or date of birth in this study. Therefore, this information will not be linked to your Visa giftcard. The name assigned to your Visa giftcard will be your unique access code found on your survey materials. A generic date of birth will be assigned to the Visa giftcard.
The Visa giftcards are administered by an outside company called Blackhawk. Blackhawk will be given your unique access code and address as a part of its payment system. They will use this information only as a part of the payment system, and it will not be given or sold to any other company. Blackhawk will not receive any information about the study in which you are participating in.
If your card is lost or stolen, please contact the study coordinator at StrongCommunities@childrens.harvard.edu for a free replacement. You will need to provide your unique access code in order to receive a replacement card.
You must use this Visa giftcard within twelve months, or you will be charged an inactivity fee which cannot be added back.