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Frequently Asked Questions

1. Am I obligated to participate?
No. Participation in this study is optional. Although your participation is not required, it is extremely valuable and greatly appreciated.

2. Can you mail/email me the survey?
If you are a home or center director, unfortunately, we cannot mail or email surveys at this time. All surveys are conducted via phone interviews in order to standardize the method of data collection. If you would like to review a sample of the questions ahead of time to prepare for your phone interview, you may view an overview of the survey here.

However, if you are a center provider, surveys will be mailed to your center with an individual packet for each center employee. The packet will contain a paper copy of the survey, and employees will mail their own surveys back in order to enhance their sense of confidentiality of their responses.

3. Who conducts this study?
This study is sponsored by the Texas Early Learning Council, and data collection and analysis is conducted by the researchers at The University of Texas at Austin’s Child and Family Research Institute and the Ray Marshall Center. Undergraduate and graduate level University of Texas students are hired as Research Assistants through the School of Social Work to conduct the phone interviews with childcare providers.

4. How long will the survey take?
The average completion time for a survey is about 15 minutes. Of course, some surveys are a bit shorter or longer depending on factors such as ability to recall or obtain data. Some providers enjoy talking with our researchers and thus provide extra information which slightly extends the length of the survey. Other providers provide short, quick answers, which typically reduces the survey time. Therefore, the length of the survey depends a lot on the preference and style of those being interviewed.

5. Where are my responses reported to?
Data is collected in aggregate form and reported to TELC.

6. Are my responses published?
Only aggregate data is published. We will not publish the responses of any individual childcare facility or participant.

7. How was my business selected to be a part of this study?
Facilities are randomly selected from the public list of all childcare facilities registered with child care licensing through the Department of Family and Protective Services.

8. I am a registered home day care, am I still eligible to participate?
Yes.  We are gathering information on registered homes, licensed homes, and centers.

9. Can I make a copy of the paper survey and give it to my friend who is a provider?  Can I have my friend call you to take the phone survey?
Unfortunately, no.  We can only have providers who were randomly selected participate in the study.

10. When will I get my gift card (if applicable)?
We mail gift cards on Friday.  If you have not received your gift card within three weeks of completing a phone interview, please give us a call at 1-888-740-0242.