WUWF asked Amy Newburn, who handled the Pensacola Community Survey for the UWF Haas Center, about our criticism that West Pensacola was under-represented in the survey.
“Not all respondents are going to pick up the phone,†Newburn said. “But, it’s really important for us to note that every person that had a phone number and within the city limits had an equal chance of being picked.â€
Through a public records request, Inweekly obtained the city’s contract with the UWF Haas Center. In the agreement, the Haas Center committed to do four rounds of phone calls to collect 400 responses. There was no requirement that the respondents be proportionate to the city districts and the demographics of the city residents.
“To keep the cost to a minimum, the Center cannot guarantee the results to be statistically significant at the district level.”
The city paid $12,000 for the survey.
Does the Haas Center survey accurately reflect the opinions of Pensacola residents? I guess that depends on whether you believe people living in Cordova Park or Gaberonne view city services the same as those in Pensacola Village or the Tanyards.
If your answer is ‘yes,’ then it doesn’t matter which 400 people answer the survey. Any 400 random city residents will do.
Read REDACTED_-_UWF_Haas_-_Executed_2016_Community_Survey_Contract.
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Table 1. District Level Distribution of Respondents |
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|
District |
Residential Distribution |
Sample Distribution by District |
|
1 |
12.9% |
19.7% |
|
2 |
15.6% |
10.1% |
|
3 |
13.0% |
21.3% |
|
4 |
15.2% |
19.4% |
|
5 |
14.0% |
10.8% |
|
6 |
15.8% |
11.5% |
|
7 |
13.5% |
7.2% |