ANNEX D: NGO Survey-Selected Data

This ANNEX presents selected pieces of quantitative information obtained in the course of the NGO survey. Detailed Terms of Reference for the survey were developed by the REC-Budapest experts and adjusted pursuant the discussion at the first meeting of the Advisory Group of the NREC Feasibility Study. The survey entailed NGO leaders completing a questionnaire designed for this survey. The original version of the questionnaire was prepared in Russian, but then translated into Romanian for surveying the Moldovan NGOs; in Ukraine and Russia the working version of the questionnaire was Russian. The field work was conducted in June-July, 1995 in Russia, Ukraine and Moldova. National sub-samples were reconstructed in consultation with national experts.

The data was processed using the SPSS/PC+ package. The SPSS data files are share-ware product that is available for further advanced research. The files can be obtained either from the REC-Budapest head office (LOOT), or from national experts (see ANNEX A for particular references).

Sample size is 223 cases (environmental NGOs). The sample represents the NGO communities in Russia, Ukraine and Moldova based on the criteria of the number of members, legal and regional status and location. Russia is represented by its European region.

The following working definition of an environmental NGO was used in the survey:

An environmental NGO is an officially registered or otherwise clearly identified group of citizens or other public association that (1) does not act as an official governmental body, (2) is a not-for-profit organization, (3) functions at the local, regional, national or international level and (4) pursues environmental work as one of its major statutory activities.

Pursuant to the Terms of Reference for the NREC Feasibility Study, trade unions, political organizations and businesses were excluded from the field research.

For purposes of this presentation, the data collection is mainly presented as a set of simple crosstabulation tables that represent the distribution of replies to the key questions depending on the country, period of organizationÕs creation and its approximate annual budget (i.e. the latter three questions are used as control variables). The criterion of the size of an organization (number of members) appeared as not having significant correlation power and therefore was excluded from the list of control variables.

One caveat regarding the NGO financial status data (budget estimates and main budget sources):The response ratio to these questions is relatively low, 49% to 53%; consequently these data are less reliable in comparison to other variables, where the number of replies is, as a rule, not lower than 190 out of 223 valid cases (i.e. at least 85%). This means that one should interpret the financial data as only representing the most probable tendency. When a question is controlled by annual budget, the column of average value is, as a rule, omitted.

Not all the data presented in the CHAPTER 3 "Needs of NGO Communities" is reflected in the given ANNEX. Not all the tables included in the ANNEX are commented on in the respective chapter.

In this presentation, only valid percentages are provided, absolute numbers are omitted due to lack of space. For the tables that represent alternative options, the total in columns (in several tables, rows) adds up to 100%. If the variable assumed a multiple choice mode of answering, the absolute weight (percentage) for each option is provided. When appropriate, the exact formulation of questions (variables) and options (values) are provided.

For more information, contact REC-Budapest (Alex Juras, Alexander Chvorostov), or Country Administrators, or National Experts. See ANNEX A for respective contact addresses.

The actual results of the survey are only available in the Acrobat (.pdf) version of this ANNEX.

REC * PUBLICATIONS * NEW REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL CENTERS * ANNEX D