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Reponse to Notification of Subsistence Survey
By Dave Person

 

January 08, 2006
Sunday


I am very glad to hear that BIA is sponsoring a survey of subsistence resource use by local residents. Unfortunately Cheryl Haven's announcement of the survey calls the objectivity of survey results seriously into question before it has even begun. By indicating that the results will be used to help decide Ketchikan's status as rural or urban, she likely has unwittingly predisposed the results. Anyone who desires rural status along with a rural subsistence preference for Ketchikan will be tempted to inflate their reported subsistence use. The survey is anonymous so there is no way to verify the truth of answers given. Hopefully, those writing the survey are sufficiently skilled in survey research to know how to include questions that probe for contradictions that can be used to evaluate the reliability of particular responses.

Dave Person
Ketchikan, AK - USA

 

About: Dave Person is a resident of Ketchikan and a research wildlife biologist.

 

 

Related Viewpoint:

letter Subsistence Usage Study By Cheryl Haven - Ketchikan, AK - USA

 

 

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