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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-24-23 Public Comment - D. Carty - UDC public engagement survey posted on Engage Bozeman on Nov 21, 2023From:Daniel Carty To:Agenda Subject:[EXTERNAL]UDC public engagement survey posted on Engage Bozeman on Nov 21, 2023 Date:Friday, November 24, 2023 7:14:10 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. (Please post the following public comment in the UDC update folder. Thank you.) Friday, Nov 24, 2023, 7:00am To: Bozeman City CommissionSubject: UDC public engagement survey posted on Engage Bozeman on Nov 21, 2023 Mayor Andrus: Thank you for responding to my Nov 22, 2023, public comment about the UDC public engagement survey posted on Engage Bozeman on Nov 21, 2023. And, thank you forvoicing your criticism of that comment. In response, I ask the City to provide the public with answers to the following questions: (1) Which City-related entities were involved in designing the survey (e.g., planning staff,engagement staff, Community Development Board, Commission, and/or others)? And, was the public involved in designing the survey? If public not involved, why not? (2) Was an independent, impartial statistician—one trained in survey sampling design andanalysis—involved in designing the survey? If yes, who or what firm was involved, and what are their qualifications? If no independent, impartial statistician was involved, why not? (3) Was the survey pilot-tested for possible bias in the following areas: sampling bias,response bias, nonresponse bias, wording-of-questions bias, and/or order-of-questions bias? If not, why not? (4) Which City-related entities will tabulate, summarize, statistically analyze, and interpretthe responses obtained from the survey? Will an independent, impartial statistician—and the public—be involved in this? If independent, impartial statistician and public not involved,why not? If the survey does not meet basic requirements for statistical survey sampling, the responses obtained will likely be biased (Footnote 1) and produce results that arequalitatively inaccurate (Footnote 2) and statistically invalid (Footnote 3). If the City then uses qualitatively inaccurate and statistically invalid survey results to inform any of its UDC-related decision-making, then that decision-making will be flawed and will not serve the City or the public well. Finally, if the survey does not meet basic requirements for statistical survey sampling, itwould be reasonable and prudent for the City to close down the survey now. Later, the survey could be re-designed with the help of an independent, impartial statistician—andwith the help of the public—and be re-issued. Going forward, the best way for the City to regain the public’s trust is to be completely transparent in and accountable for its UDC-related actions, including issuing surveys toobtain public input. Sincerely, Daniel Carty213 N. Third Ave Bozeman, MT 59715 dgc12@hotmail.com406-548-2810 Footnote 1: Statistical bias is a term used to describe statistics that do not provide an accurate representation of the population. Footnote 2: Accuracy in qualitative data refers to gaining information that comes as closeas possible to what the research participant is thinking or experiencing at any moment in time. Footnote 3: Statistical validity indicates how much one can rely on the conclusions derivedfrom a survey sample.