RE: Identifying the Interested Public

[Ricardo Alvarez <alvarez@fiu.edu>]

The "interested public" AS ALWAYS is the "knowledgeable public". To the degree that the public has knowledge, not just information, about an issue they will be more willing to get involved in an issue THEY UNDERSTAND. It is all about communicating with the public.

I disagree with Dan Dozier and Greg Landers that one way of identifying the interested public is to look for "past complainers". This method would only ensure the introduction of bias in what must be promoted as a representative process.

But I do agrre with Dan Dozier in the use of neutral sectors in the "convening effort". Why not use academic institutions where researchers could by way of scientifc surveys get at the "interested public" in a totally neutral fashion, with the added benefit that (a) EPA would receive a representative sample of the public's opinion; (b) the scientific methodoly including random sampling would give great validity to the information gathered,; and (c)the researchers can provide their own analysis as to the meaning and significance of the information, and probably do all of this at the same cost that EPA may now be incurring using other methodology that may be far less effective.