Methods

The survey, called “The Justice 2018 Waltham Satisfaction Survey,” was posted in class Facebook pages several times from April 17 to Sept. 11, 2018. The poll was developed by Justice writers and editors. Before publication, the poll and polling practices were assessed by Prof. Teresa Mitchell (PSYC) for accuracy. Mitchell teaches about polling practices in her course PSYC 52A, “Research Methods and Laboratory in Psychology.”    

The Justice defined the area around campus as the section of Waltham that extends from Curtis Street in the east, north to Winthrop Street, west to Route 20, and south to the border of Weston, then examined the Waltham Police crime reporting map statistics in this area. These boundaries were based on Google Maps walking time estimates and form a rough semicircle around the campus. The Justice defined the Main Street area as the street itself, plus one block to either side of Main Street (Russell Street to the south and School Street to the north) extending in a strip from Waltham City Hall in the east to Prospect Hill Road in the west.

The Justice defined Moody Street as the area between the Moody Street Bridge in the north to Crescent Street in the south and extending one block to either side.

Further Stats

The following statistics have been rounded to the nearest whole percent.

72 percent of respondents identified as female,  24 percent identified as male, and six percent identified as neither.

Only 15 percent of students polled said they spent the majority of their childhood in an urban setting; 72 percent said they spent it in a suburban setting.

62 percent of those surveyed said they travel through Waltham two or fewer times a week for entertainment or shopping.