At 09:58 AM 1/10/02, Wilson, Mark K1RO wrote:
>The QST surveys are sent to a random sample of ARRL members. The samples are
>chosen under the guidance of an independent research firm, using
>industry-standard techniques, to ensure that we reach a representative
>cross-section of the entire ARRL membership. Followup efforts are made until
>the response rate is high enough to ensure that the results are accurate.
One should also note that a survey is only as good as the questions asked.
For example, when asked to compare different topics, it wouldn't surprise me
if most hams rank their interest in public service topics higher than
contesting topics simply because that is the right thing to do: public
service 'justifies' our hobby more than contesting does. Other ways of
asking the question may result in different rankings.
Also, the people who respond to surveys like this are doing so in an
abstract manner. In other words, actual interest is not being measured
directly - rather, it is recollection of interest. May not be the same thing.
I'm not saying the ARRL is "guilty" of any of this - but because of the
above points I will always be skeptical of survey data.
73 - jeff wk6i
"There are lies, damn lies, and statistics." - Benjamin Disraeli
--
CQ-Contest on WWW: http://lists.contesting.com/_cq-contest/
Administrative requests: cq-contest-REQUEST@contesting.com
|