III. METHODOLOGY
In preparation for the 2010 Judicial Partner Survey, state office staff verified and updated data from a list of courts with probate jurisdiction provided by the Guardianship Certification Board. This verification included names, addresses, telephone numbers, and e-mail addresses for courts with whom the program interacts on a regular basis. Once the list was verified, the 2010 survey was sent to approximately 455 individuals representing 343 courts with probate authority in Texas. The judiciary list included constitutional county judges, county court-at-law judges, statutory probate judges, court administrators and other court personnel.
The 18 statutory probate courts are included in the total of 343 courts. Statistics represented within this report are presented on the overall total number of surveys sent out with selected responses from the statutory probate courts being extrapolated and reported separately as well. Judges and court personnel from 71 courts responded to the survey. This represents a 16 percent response rate of the overall survey population and a 21 percent response of the number of courts surveyed. Responses were received from seven of the 18 statutory probate courts (32 percent) in Texas.
The program administered the survey on-line via a web-based survey application from July 15, 2010 through August 24, 2010. Judges and court personnel initially received an electronic mail message with instructions on how to access and complete the survey. This information was sent a second time during the course of the survey to encourage participation. Upon request, one judge received a paper survey via facsimile. The responses from this judge were manually entered into the electronic survey data.
The survey included a total of 15 questions which encompassed the following:
- Demographic information about the court and person completing the survey (questions 1–5):
- information on title of person completing the survey, contact information on person completing the survey, and counties served (questions 2–5);
- number of guardianship cases heard and types of guardianships, other legal proceedings (question 8);
- DADS legal representation before the court (question 9).
- Perceptions of the court regarding the capability, effectiveness and professionalism of DADS staff:
- a combination of Likert scale statements (question 10); and
- open-ended questions (questions 11–15).
Updated: February 23, 2011