06.02 - Region 5 - Survey Results

Home Browse Search

1W1W1WVr1V: Pequot Lakes Intercept Survey Results Region Five DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION Introduction The Pequot Lakes community requested the assistance to of the Region Five Commission in surveying its residents, businesses, and visitors in the late summer of 2007. A community group met on Tuesday, August 7, 2007 and determined that three pieces of additional information would be useful to the business community and residents who are faced with a pending decision related to the expansion of MN 371 . Obtaining information related to the nature and composition of visitors to Pequot Lakes business district. This report documents the effort to gather this information through the use of an intercept survey of visitors to the city. Methodology An intercept survey is a survey conducted by "intercepting" people as they go about their normal activities. Respondents are stopped by surveyors and asked to take a few minutes to answer a few questions related to the nature of their visit. Our surveyors Where stationed at 5 locations around Pequot Lakes consisting of: the one block in front Sibley Station on Government Drive, the two blocks in front of the Legion and Leslie's along the north side of Main street, in front of Thurlow's Hardware on Front street, outside the Oasis on Hwy 371, and rotated the fifth location between the entrance of the Lakes Latte shop and the Post Office on the west side of Hwy 371 on Main street. The surveys were conducted on the following dates: Tuesday, August 21, Wednesday, August 22, Friday, August 24, and Saturday, August 25th, 2007. Two days where chosen during the normal workweek and two during the weekend, in an effort to account for the predicted difference in foot traffic between weekend days. The surveys were collected between the hours of 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. by four of the surveyors and between 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. by one of the surveyors on the identified days. The weather was consistently sunny and fair during survey hours with the exception of Tuesday, August 21 when it rained for two hours. The survey questions used came from a collaborative effort involving the Pequot Lakes community. The questions were refined and agreed upon before the survey was administered. Incentives were used to ensure that surveyors achieved the maximum possible number of responses. The goal was for each data collector to take a survey every 10 minutes. 6 surveys an hr x 5 hrs a day = 30 surveys a day, x 4 days = 120 surveys per person, x 5 data collectors = 600 surveys) All data collectors reached their goal. 1