of Maryland and the managers could not get corporate approval to participate, and in 3
cases, the managers and/or owners could not be reached. On the night of the survey,
problems arose at 3 of the 21 businesses (for example, two night managers had not been
informed by their supervisors about the survey), hence the survey was conducted at 18
(60%) of the eligible establishmentsÐ6 restaurants with bars, 11 bars, and 1 large dance
club. All 30 eligible establishments were categorized on the basis of size of the
establishment (rated by project staff) and on the average age of their clientele (as rated
by managers). No differences were found on either variable between participating versus
non-participating establishments.
CONDUCT OF BARROOM SURVEYS
Customers were recruited for the study when they first entered each establishment to
limit the amount of pre-assessment drinking by respondents. Teams of at least two trained
survey administrators were assigned to each establishment and approached every customer
as they entered. As survey administrators approached customers they said:
We're conducting a study to see how customers in drinking establishments feel about
free public services for drinkers. We can pay you $5.00 for completing a brief,
anonymous survey about free rides for drinkers and the use of designated drivers to
help reduce and/or prevent drinking and driving. The coupons can be used for any nonalcoholic
item at this business. When you're done with the survey, seal it in this
envelope and give it back to me. I just need to ask you a couple of questions to make
sure you qualify for the survey.
If the individual approached was interested, they were asked a series of screener
questions, which required that participants were at least 21 years of age or older, had
lived in Frederick County for at least 12 months, had driven a motor vehicle in the last
12 months, and had consumed an alcoholic beverage in the last 12 months for other than
religious purposes. Of the customers approached, 75 percent agreed to complete the
screener questions. Of those screened, 58 percent were eligible for the survey. The
predominant reason for customer ineligibility was that they did not live in the county.
Eighty-five percent of eligible customers completed a written questionnaire that took
approximately 10 to 15 minutes to finish. Because we could not detain refusers, no
specific information was collected on the 15 percent of eligible customers who did not
participate in the survey, however response rates were comparable across businesses that
catered to different-aged customers and those where customers tended to drink heavily
versus not. Also, as mentioned above, participating establishments did not differ from
non-participating establishments on the basis of the age of their customers or the size of
their establishments.
BARROOM SURVEY CONTENT
The barroom surveys requested information about the following major content areas:
socio-demographics; alcohol use; items used to compute respondents' usual BAC levels
in different contexts, such as when they drink outside the home in general, or on
occasions when they use an SR; items indicative of alcohol use problems; measures of
drinking and driving and DWI behavior; riding with intoxicated drivers; and other