WSP01521

• File Number: 8443.400
• Description: Narrows Unit Reports
• State: CO
• Basin: South Platte
• Water Division: 1
• Date: 6/15/1974
• Author: US DOL BOR
• Title: Draft Social Assessment of the Proposed Narrows Unit and Alternatives Thereto
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

0343

communities. One group of three interviewers went to the

Valley area in late April; a second group of four interviewers

returned to the Valley in early June. In all, about twenty

man days were spent interviewing directly in the Valley. In

addition, interviews were conducted in Denver with various

relevant expert informants and actor groups with advocacy

positions on the building of the dam. Finally, a great deal

of secondary data was gathered and organized from public

records (e.g., data on housing, census, employment, industry,

etc.). The result is that well over 100 interviews were con-

ducted with expert informants. Most of the farms and many

homes in the Hardin and Narrows flood pools were interviewed.

In all, a few dozen interviews of residents of the surrounding

communities were completed.

It is especially important to note that this interview-

ing strategy differs in a couple of ways from more traditional

national sampling techniques. This is true for specific rea-

sons. In the first place, the concern of the assessment is

with obtaining relevant, accurate and comprehensive information

on probable social impacts; it is not with obtaining a "proba-

bilistic sample." The objective of the study is not to be able

to talk about percentage of people supporting the project, but

rather to draw some conclusion about the likely social impacts

of the projects. This distinction is important for two reasons.

First, the extent to which a person believes something will

happen is not necessarily related directly to its actual proba-

bility of occurrence. Second, by being able to match objective

.

~

.

n

32