CLDC survey is skewed

Dear editor:

As reported in the April 28, 2010, edition of the Mountain Home News, at a public meeting held on April 20, 2010, the Community Leadership Development Committee (CLDC) revealed the results of a recreation survey conducted in March.

This survey gathered information from the general public regarding needs which the PUBLIC identified as priority programs for a new recreation/community center. The CLDC acts on behalf of the WECRD, which voters approved and began paying taxes for years ago.

According to the news article, 832 residents had responded to the survey. How were people selected to take part in this survey? Randomly, I hope. I was not selected. Were you?

To help narrow down the list of 23 programs, which were identified by the respondents, the people who attended the public meeting were asked to choose their four favorite programs. How many people attended this meeting?

According to the news article, "...swimming lessons and recreational swimming outlets were among the top programs prople wanted." But in the next paragraph, David Duro, Treasure Valley YMCA operations chief, was quoted as saying: "A pool isn't critical." (Really?) Later in the article, Duro "acknowledged that local residents continue to grow impatient regarding the proposed community center." Well, heck yes! I was a member of the Blue Ribbon Committee (created by Mayor Etter) that started this whole process in 1998. That's 12 years ago!

At this same public meeting, Jim Everett, CEO for the Treasure Valley Family YMCA, said that it can take up to four years before we'll see the facility's grand opening. Oops! Now it's 16 years!!

At the meeting, it was announced that a marketing survey would begin in June or July to gather SPECIFIC information on what the community wants, with results to be released in October. That's right, folks! Another survey! I've lost count, but I figure we've averaged at least one survey each year for the last 12 years, and whoever's in charge STILL doesn't know what WE want.

This latest survey is now being conducted. I know because on July 22, 1 was called (by random selection, I assumed) by someone representing the CLDC, who asked if I had 10 minutes to respond to her survey questions. I said, "Sure." Then the caller asked if I was over 34. 1 told her that I was, and she said that she could NOT survey me because "they" already HAD ENOUGH respondents OVER 34 and now needed ONLY people under 34.

There went the VALIDITY of this survey, right out the window! RANDOMIZATION is the gold standard of research. If you do not randomly select your SAMPLES from any given POPULATION (like the residents of Mountain Home), your results cannot be valid representatives of that population, and your DATA BECOME FLAWED.

It would appear that the CLDC is skewing their statistic, and we pool lovers/center supporters may continue to be "skewed" in the process.

-- Sandy Pitts Ph.D.

(Editor's note: To be statistically accurate, any random survey must have a certain number of people respond in each specified demographic group. Although they should have let you respond, it wouldn't have apparently made any difference when the answers are adjusted for demographic weight. It would have been just overkill in that demographic group. Obviously, they had enough in the over-34 demographic groups to be statistically valid, but needed more responses in the under-34 groups to generate an accurate survey.)