To the Editor: Drunk driving ‘survey’ lacks any substance

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The story headlined, "Survey: 1 in 10 students drive drunk" is the type of reporting that
misleads readers and causes groans and cringing among people who understand survey research. The survey
of 124 students who happen to have attended a university activity ("Big Playground") and
happened to have filled out a questionnaire for "Wood County Safe Communities" is based on
nothing more than a convenience sample which is not generalizable to anyone other than the people who
filled out the questionnaire. The respondents do not represent anyone. Not students in general, not
college students, and not BGSU students. In fact, unless they were randomly selected from the attendees
at the event, they’re not even representative of that group. So, despite claims made in the report,
neither the survey nor the story contains useful information about drinking and driving as a social
problem.
Rick Busselle
Bowling Green

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