Come on Dave, let us have a little fun! no one is paying money to do the "interview" and no one is paying for the information. I call it an interview of people involved in the hobby, not a survey or poll. Jeff in NC ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dave Cole" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Multiple recipients of sslivesteam" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, March 17, 2003 12:38 PM Subject: Re: Online Survey
> chuck: > > while i commend your willingness to "go the extra mile" to garner > hobbyists' viewpoints, what you are in fact building is a poll, not a > survey. > > what you'll be able to say when you're done is that "73 percent of > those who chose to respond to the poll said gauge one locomotives > should have wheels spanning 45mm." you will not be able to say "73 > percent of hobbyists said gauge one locomotives should ahve wheels > spanning 45mm." > > my point has always been that none of the opinion-gathering > techniques detailed so far are scientific. self-selection -- i.e., > going to a web site and answering questions or returning a postcard > -- skews the results. > > i have actually written up a method of creating a (mostly) > statistically valid survey of our hobby, but decided that it is way, > way off topic (if anybody is interested, i'll send you the > explanation off-list), so i'm not posting it. > > but maybe i'm wrong; maybe a poll of self-selected hobbyists has some > value and maybe i just don't see it. > > \dmc > > > At 9:43 AM -0500 3/17/03, Chuck Walters wrote: > > I have been following the threads concerning the surveys that > >have taken > >place at various times within the last year. I took part in the Aster > >survey and found it to be (of course) geared toward Aster, which is okay as > >it was their survey. However, I don't believe a survey has been conducted > >in a long while that is totally unbiased and not manufacturer sponsored. > > With that said, and in the hopes that the results of such a > >survey would be > >valuable to a few manufacturers, I have created a shell for an online survey > >that allows for anonymity and report ability. It is my intention that the > >results will be shared with as many manufacturers as possible, here on the > >listserv and reported in Steam in the Garden. Maybe someone will take > >notice. What I need from this illustrious group is a list of questions that > >you would like to see on the survey. If possible, please make the questions > >geared toward check box answers. This will ensure a cleaner database. But > >one line answers will work also. When the survey is ready, I will post the > >link. > > > >My Best, > > > >Chuck > > > >Charles W. Walters > >Twin Lakes Railway CEO > >http://home.twcny.rr.com/twinlakesrw > > > > > > > -- > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > Dave Cole > Gen'l Sup't: Grand Teton & Everglades Steam Excursion Co. > Pacifica, Calif. USA <http://45mm.com/> <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > List Mom: sslivesteam, the list of small-scale live steamers > <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > ATTEND THE NATIONAL SUMMER STEAMUP IN SACRAMENTO, JULY 17-20, 2003 > For more information, visit the web site at <http://www.summersteamup.com> > > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
