Thursday, August 14, 2014
Public Opinion Survey On 2014 Winnipeg Mayoral Race: Probe Research Inc. Launches Canada’s First Crowdfunded Poll
Public Opinion Survey On 2014 Winnipeg Mayoral Race:
Probe Research Inc. Launches Canada’s First Crowdfunded Poll
Winnipeg – Winnipeg-based market research firm
Probe Research Inc. is engaging citizens and organizations from all walks of
life to finance a public opinion survey on Winnipeg’s 2014 mayoral campaign.
Probe Research has launched a
“crowdfunding” campaign through the website Indiegogo to finance an up-to-date
scientific public opinion survey regarding the candidates competing to be
Winnipeg’s next mayor. If the project reaches its fundraising target of $8,000
by August 27, this online survey will be launched immediately, with results
released to sponsors by mid-September.
The idea to crowdfund a public opinion
survey - believed to be the first-ever Canadian public opinion survey financed
through this method– emerged from a clear demand for insights into the current
mayoral race. Probe Research’s last survey on the mayoral contest was conducted
in December, long before several of the candidates officially entered the
contest.
“We know there is a real demand among
political observers in Winnipeg to measure support for the candidates currently
in the race,” Curtis
Brown, Probe Research’s Vice-President, explained. “We are taking this step
in the hopes that we can meet this demand for dynamic insights on the campaign
so far. We hope and expect that people will step up
to fund this novel method of collecting public opinion insights.”
Probe Research accurately forecast the
results of the 2011 Manitoba provincial election and has an impressive 20-year track record of providing high-quality
public opinion and market research data to more than 300 clients throughout
North America.
While some firms will conduct public
opinion research during election campaigns for little or no cost in the hopes
of gaining publicity via coverage of their poll, Probe Research has not been
willing to engage in this practice.
“We firmly believe a crowdfunded
survey is a way for people and organizations who are interested in polling to
invest in a high-quality service,”
said Probe Research President Scott MacKay. “We are very proud of the work
we do and we feel that we provide a valuable public service by informing
citizens about the dynamics of election campaigns. With this crowdfunding
proposal, a larger number of citizens will be able to have access to the
results and to understand how the electorate is considering which mayoral
candidate to choose in October’s election.”
The deadline to invest is August 27.
If the $8,000 goal is reached, the survey will go into field on August 28, with
the in-depth results released to project investors by Sept. 10th. If
the $8,000 goal is not reached, the money will be refunded to those who
invested in the project.
The online survey (which uses Probe
Research Inc.’s randomly-recruited panel) will include a representative sample
of 600 Winnipeg adults.
Founded in 1994, Probe Research Inc.
is a full-service market research company based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. To learn
more about Probe Research Inc., please visit www.probe-research.com.
To visit the project’s page on
Indiegogo, please visit: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/2014-winnipeg-mayoral-race-survey
For more information about this
project, please contact:
Curtis
Brown, Vice-President
Probe
Research Inc.
(204)
926-6563 (office)
(204)
250-7410 (cell)
