There are two types of people in the world – those who like surveys and those who don’t.
The Town of Cochrane is currently conducting a survey, and has hired research company Ipsos Reid to gather the information for them.
The survey asks a myriad of questions, ranging from where you live, how happy you are with the services the town offers, important issues that should be addressed, whether the quality of life is getting better or worse and if the town should raise taxes to maintain or increase services or lower taxes and decrease what services they provide.
Essentially, the survey aims to paint a picture of how satisfied Cochranites are with the job the town is doing, while at the same time, it looks for guidance on how to best move forward.
On the positive side, surveys can be useful, as they provide information directly from a targeted demographic and can be an invaluable resource.
On the other hand, they are not always entirely accurate.
Take a look at Alberta’s 2012 provincial election for evidence of that.
Ipsos Reid conducted a poll on decided voters from March 20-25, 2012, and their results pointed to a dead heat between the Progressive Conservatives and the Wildrose Party, which, by all accounts, was more accurate than most polls done leading up to the election.
The final poll – conducted by Forum Research April 22 – had the Wildrose Party winning the election with 38 per cent of the vote to 36 from the PCs. Forum also did a poll the day prior and it predicted 41 per cent to Wildrose and 32 to the PCs.
The April 23 election resulted in a PC victory with 44 per cent to 34 for the Wildrose Party.
Needless to say, the polls were wrong, but why?
Are these survey inaccuracies because the polling is flawed or because people really don’t know (or will admit) what they really want?
During the provincial election, many reported having voter fear – changing their minds at the very last minute and voting PC rather than Wildrose.
If this was in fact the case, the fault of the final polls cannot be placed on the polling agencies themselves, but rather with those being surveyed.
A survey is only as good as the information provided by those taking part in the poll.
This survey the town is conducting asks some very important questions of Cochrane residents, and those taking the survey should take that into consideration if they choose to complete the survey.
It is a lengthy survey, which could result in low completion numbers for the town. Surveys that are short and sweet tend to have higher completion rates. Cochrane residents who complete this survey will likely be those who are very interested and passionate about their community and have the time to answer around 100 questions. Many (who also care about the community) simply will not have the time or want to put forth the effort to complete such an extensive survey.
Government, at all levels, is an easy target for scrutiny (much of which it brings on itself, but some is simply the nature of the beast when one chooses public service). It can never expect to please everyone, all the time.
So when your municipal government asks for your input, do your best to provide that input, because they don’t always give you that opportunity.
You may not feel the same way as most Cochrane residents, and perhaps the manner in which you would want the municipality run would not come to fruition because of that. But it’s difficult to criticize something if you don’t speak up when you were asked to.
To participate in the survey, visit ipsospasurveys.com/s/TownofCochrane.
Now, whether the town should have forked over taxpayer dollars to pay Ipsos Reid to conduct a survey on its job performance is another issue altogether.
