You can see the FULL RESULTS of the Massachusetts Albanian Community Survey in These Tables plus the Text of Thirteen Written Comments -- a brief summary is provided below

General Demographic Information

• There were 65 responses

• Half Male and Half Female

• 29% under 30, 21% 31-40, 25% 41-50

• 48% Metro Boston , 29% City of Boston , 11% Worcester

• 31% 10-15 years in USA , 19% 15-20 years in USA , 29% all their life in USA

• 68% born in Albania , 28% born in USA

• 69% feel more Albanian than American, 20% feel more American than Albanian

• 44% college graduates, 44% additional school after college 

Of course, the above does not necessarily represent the entire community, but rather the people who took the time to fill out the survey.  Not surprisingly, these people were more likely to be educated, young, and living longer in the USA .  The fact that more people from Boston area completed the survey just reflects that MAASBESA is better known in Boston than in Worcester.

Specific Issues

• On a scale of 1-5, the importance of assisting people in need was ranked 4.0

• On a scale of 1-5, the importance of holding events to promote Albanian culture was ranked 4.2

• On a scale of 1-5, the importance of the Albanian Language and Heritage School was ranked 4.5 and 32 respondents said that they want their children to attend the Albanian School (based on an individual ranking of 4 or 5) – so MAASBESA hopes that these people will tell us who they are and enroll their children in the Albanian School this fall

• On a scale of 1-5, the effectiveness of communications from MAASBESA was about 3.9, and MAASBESA needs to make better use of Facebook, its web-site, and at least monthly newsletters – the massalbanians yahoo group received a ranking of 3.7

• The Annual Membership fee of $25 is reasonable, but fundraising efforts should focus more on business sponsors and events

• Approximately 50% of respondents strongly agreed or agreed with the following statement while only 17% strongly disagreed or disagreed -- “In general, Albanians are not very ‘community-minded’ and it is difficult to get people to volunteer to help and assist the Community” – of course, this suggests, as most of us know, that it is difficult for Albanians to work well together in groups

• Over 50% of the people who answered the following question strongly agreed or agreed with the statement – “I am willing to get more involved in MAASBESA and help organize events and activities” – so MAASBESA would appreciate it if all 30 of these people would get more involved in the Community and making it better and stronger