Professor Ronda Directs Service-Learning Project with Central Park Conservancy

Michelle Ronda, M.A.

“It was perfect for both Urban Sociology and Research Methods,” Ronda said. “It really met the spirit of service learning better than I could have hoped because we needed to know how to do that type of work. If you don’t have something that’s actually happening in the world right now, [surveying] can feel far-removed from reality.” 

The survey, which began in July 2008, is the most comprehensive study of Central Park use since 1982, the year the Conservancy created the management and restoration plan for the park. Students manned various entrances along Central Park’s 843 acres to calculate how many people use the park during different times of day and seasons, and to ask users what they like most and least about the park. 

To achieve an accurate sampling, William Kornblum, Ph.D., professor of sociology at the CUNY Graduate Center and principal investigator on the original and recent user surveys, and CPC planner Lane Addoniziodevised a system that surveyors could use to sample and survey people leaving the Park. In order to achieve some small measure of randomization in the survey sample, the volunteer researchers had to turn away from the entrance and then approach the third person exiting the Park to ask if they would have a few minutes for a survey about Central Park. Kornblum also devised a sampling system to permit the volunteer researchers to count the number of people entering the Park. They counted everyone who entered at a specific entrance during a 10-minute period, then paused the count for 10 minutes and resumed over the course of an hour. 

“It was hard for my students to realize how challenging it is to go up to a stranger to ask them to participate in the survey,” Ronda said. “Your inclination is to think that a particular person looks friendly and so want to survey them. With this sampling system, you have to pick person number three exiting the park, even if that person has headphones on or is flying past on a bicycle.” 

In addition to practical social science research experience, the project offered students in the Urban Sociology course a greater understanding of the man-made park’s development. Students also considered the socioeconomic impacts of the Park’s creation, which caused people to be displaced and created tensions in surrounding neighborhoods. 

“It expanded my students’ appreciation for the differences in the neighborhoods surrounding the Park,” Ronda said. “Because when you’re up at the Harlem Meer, it’s a different Central Park than when you’re standing right across from FAO Schwartz. One of the goals of the course is to appreciate those differences in an urban environment.” Once a report is released, the gathered data will determine how people use Central Park. These findings will help the Central Park Conservancy secure funding for the park and bring attention to areas that need improvement or more safety. 

Click here to view the map MMC students used to survey Central Park users for CPC’s comprehensive study of the park. 

Marymount Manhattan College is an urban, independent, liberal arts college. The mission of the College is to educate a socially and economically diverse student body by fostering intellectual achievement and personal growth and by providing opportunities for career development.

Published: May 13, 2010