Students Launching Survey on Games
Prince George, B.C. – So what impact did the Canada Winter Games have on Prince George? That is the subject of a survey being conducted by some third year Political Science students at UNBC.
This class project has formulated a survey to gauge public reaction to the Games. Grant Bachand is one of the students involved in this project “We’re asking the community of Prince George their personal opinion and personal thoughts on how the Games went”.
The project is aimed at teaching the students how to conduct a survey and how such data may be used in policy decisions.
The survey will pose several questions along the lines of ; Do you think the City was prepared for it with its different services, do you think the Games increased civic pride, do you think it will increase residency, do you think it will increase students coming to UNBC?
Bachand says it’s important to pose the questions as close to the end of the Games as possible “We feel that people’s opinions are never going to be as prevalent as they will be right after the Games.” He says the timing is important in order to get the freshest opinions, whether those opinions are positive or negative, “If you wait a while, essentially your opinion is diluted and then you kind of lose memories about what was bothering you, or what was so awesome.”
Students have been talking with businesses throughout the community for permission to set up a survey booth on those premises. The students are hoping to have survey booths in all areas of the City.
The only hitch to the plan is the labour dispute between UNBC and its Faculty Association. The work won’t be done until that dispute is resolved. The Faculty Association has served 72 hour strike notice and all services could be withdrawn if there is no deal before 8 a.m. Thursday, but Bachand is optimistic the labour dispute will be resolved quickly.
Once the surveys have been conducted, it will take some time for the students to correlate the data. He says they hope to present a final report to the community in April.
Comments
Yes yes no. Yes. Didn’t ask the question I wanted thought. Do I think it was the best use of the money spent. And do you think taxpayers consent should be sought for similar expenditures in the future
Would be interesting to see the difference in opinions of those who were part of the games (organizers, volunteers, suppliers, etc) to those of the ordinary PG citizen. Interesting but that is all, not sure why the “need” to publicize a student project, it isn’t a scientific study or anything world changing, maybe so they can pat themselves on the back or council… or maybe they have a portion of the mark on involving the media.
“Bachand is optimistic the labour dispute will be resolved quickly.”
This young man has a bright future as a politician.
Talking to Restaurants, Bars, Motels, Hotels, and the retail stores as to how they were impacted by the games would give some interesting data.
Also finding out the attendance at all the functions would be interesting,. Some of these sports had very few people in attendance.
I think that the Games were a success on many levels, however from a commercials standpoint not so good.
We need to know the actual tickets sales and revenue, and the cost of the games, to get a better sense of how successful they were in making a long term contribution to the City.
It`s too bad the students didn`t start the survey two or three months prior to the games. then ask the same questions during and then three months later.
That way you would see the change in attitudes and any long term effects.
I`m no expert on surveys but,….just saying.
This is a laudable project and will make for a useful and informative educational experience. Good stuff, students!
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