Folks, this is getting interesting. We've previously noted the heated controversy (with residents forming anti-WM organizations) over the not even "officially" proposed Wal-Mart in Ballston Spa. Now, Wal-Mart is using a telephone "survey" to generate a pro-WM petition.
Stan Hudy, a Ballston Spa resident who is also an employee of The Saratogian, received a phone call Friday evening from someone who identified himself as 'Jason from Wal-Mart.'Note that the large-scale use of the telephone survey format for market research is a prime reason for the decreasing response rate to rigorous statistical surveys...The man asked if Hudy was familiar with the project, listed some economic benefits of the company coming to Ballston and asked if Hudy was in favor of the proposal.
When Hudy responded affirmatively, the pollster asked if he would be willing to sign a petition, write a letter or attend a meeting in support of the proposal. Hudy said he would not be in a position to do that as an employee of the newspaper, and the conversation was ended.
The call came from a research company called Western Wats, based in Provo, Utah.
Posted by Kevin on February, 5 2005 at 11:45 AM
