Central Cariboo Recreation Survey Results Released

In early 2011, the Central Cariboo Recreation Advisory Committee (CCRAC) undertook an extensive online survey to gather community input on recreation services in Williams Lake and the surrounding areas. This information was presented to the Joint Planning Committee of the Cariboo Regional District and the City of Williams Lake to help in future decisions regarding recreation in our area.

The survey itself was developed through an extensive process which included feedback from the Joint Committee on the contents of the survey. Every effort was made to ensure survey questions were impartial and advertising was done in an equitable manner as to not influence the results.

“It is always a good thing to hear what people have to say,” said Mayor Kerry Cook. “It helps to provide input and understanding for future decisions.”

“Surveys are an important way the general public can provide feedback on how we are doing, what we might be missing, and how things could be improved,” says Central Cariboo Joint Committee Co-Chair Joan Sorley. “Information gathered from this survey will be valuable in helping us to prioritize our resources in the area of recreation.”

The survey was made available online, via e-mail, fax and regular mail and through hard copies available at many locations around Williams Lake. The survey was opened to the public for the entire month of February and advertising was done throughout this period to encourage people to participate. A total of 521 persons completed the survey either on-line or via hard copies. Survey participation was self-selected; not a random selection process.

It is important to note that due to the nature of self-selected surveys, the survey itself is not considered scientifically valid. Generally, a non-random sample survey such as this one is considered to have a high risk for “Non-Response Bias”, which simply means that those people who do not respond have the potential to have much different views than those who do respond. This is because those people who do respond are more likely interested in the topic, or may have a personal agenda for doing so and tend to focus on problems or issues that are specific to them.

Even with potential “Non Response Bias” the results of the survey are still an important tool and should be considered one part of a bigger bag of tools, along with other methods of data collection, in making decisions.

“A survey such as this is valuable in helping to identify areas where we may be able to make positive changes”, said Geoff Paynton, Director of Community Services for the City of Williams Lake. “ We’ve already taken some of the information and used it to implement some customer service initiatives at the CMRC and there are some other ideas in there that we are looking closely at.”

You can see the Survey Results Summary here