BobcatAttack.com - For Fans of Ohio University Sports

Welcome Guest!
Create an Account

site search

about us

advertise with us

help

BobcatAttack.com Message Board

Ohio Football

Topic: Ridpath up to his old tricks

Topic: Ridpath up to his old tricks

Author

Message

The Situation
General User

Member Since: 7/12/2010
Location: Columbus, OH
Post Count: 957

Status: Offline

Ridpath up to his old tricks

Posted: 11/13/2012 8:50:46 PM

I just completed a Harris Interactive survey about student fees at Ohio University. I received the link in an email. (Ridpath was the contact for questions)

The reason I say Ridpath is up to his old tricks is because the questions are inflammatory by design, instead of exploratory.

After some qualifying questions I was asked how much a student pays as part of the general fee per semester. Immediately following my answer, the survey told me how much a student pays per year! Is that misleading or what?

Several questions on the spending priorities of that fee followed. Then I was asked how much goes toward intercollegiate athletics. The amount per semester and year then followed!

I could be wrong, but I'm under the impression a survey isn't supposed to give you the answers to questions in the middle of a survey, as it can artificially direct the outcome (aka a student being pissed towards the end and saying they're not willing to spend anything toward athletics).

The survey also found a way to cram in there that athletic events aren't free because they're paid for as a part of the general fee. I understand that athletics are funded with the student fee, but was this a survey by Ridpath or an infomercial?

The point is, there is definitely a battle going on behind the scenes about spending on OHIO athletics. Ridpath is out to rig the vote. But we probably already knew that.

bobcat695
General User

Member Since: 12/20/2004
Location: Parkersburg, WV
Post Count: 1,345

Status: Offline

RE: Ridpath up to his old tricks

Posted: 11/13/2012 9:28:05 PM

Dave Ridpath is a friend of Ohio Athletics. He is a nationally recognized expert on the NCAA also. I'm have not seen the survey so I can't specifically comment on that, but I highly doubt he is doing anything to sabotage athletics. He teaches in the Sports Management department and attends nearly every sporting event on campus, as well as several road games.

It is possible he is teaching students how to market sports in a less than favorable environment. If I was really concerned about it, I'd send him an email asking about the motives of the survey. I'll bet he answers you honestly.

"You can't un-fist a fist pump." - Saul Phillips 1/24/15

OhioCatFan
General User

Member Since: 12/20/2004
Location: Athens, OH
Post Count: 14,760

Status: Offline

RE: Ridpath up to his old tricks

Posted: 11/13/2012 9:36:14 PM

This sounds like it has all the academic rigor of Vedder's infamous survey a few years ago. If you will recall I publicly called him out for this sloppy survey and lack of knowledge of appropriate research methodology. To his credit, he hasn't held it against me and we are still friends. I don't, however, actually know Ridpath at all, but I do know that he is a man with an agenda. No, this wasn't a scientific survey but what is called a "push poll" that cleverly leads the respondent in the direction that the poll taker wants. Politicians of all stripes use this kind of thing all the time. Also, special interest groups like the Heritage Foundation and the ACLU (note the evenhandedness) send me this type of "push poll" all the time. I just rip them up.

Last Edited: 11/13/2012 9:39:17 PM by OhioCatFan

The only BLSS Certified Hypocrite on BA

"It is better to be an optimist and be proven a fool than to be a pessimist and be proven right."

Note: My avatar is the national colors of the 78th Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry, which are now preserved in a climate controlled vault at the Ohio History Connection. Learn more about the old 78th at: http://www.78ohio.org

L.C.
General User

Member Since: 8/31/2005
Location: United States
Post Count: 10,497

Status: Offline

RE: Ridpath up to his old tricks

Posted: 11/13/2012 11:48:20 PM

Push polls, and poorly designed polls are so common these days.... As someone who studied proper survey design, it appalls me. How about this for an example? As the background, over the last 20 years a lot has changed locally in the biking area. Here are four changes:
1. There are a lot more bike paths now, so kids that bike do it more on bike paths, and less on roads.
2. Helmet use is much higher these days
3. Kids spend a lot more time inside playing video games, and a lot less time outside on bikes, so there are a lot less bike riders these days
4. The city has a biker safety program

Not surprisingly, there are a lot less head injuries from biking accidents these days that there were 25 years ago. Which of the above 4 factors was responsible? Without a doubt factors 1-3 would reduce the number of head injuries, and #4 might have an impact as well, if it is effective. Rather than bothering to try to find out or demonstrate how effective the safety program was, the city asked the following question in a survey:

Which would you favor:
a. Continuing to fund the biker safety program and increasing property taxes to pay for it
b. Allowing head injuries among children to rise

I choose, um, b? Seriously, they could have done some research to see if the accident rate was lower among people that participated in the safety program if they really wanted to know and/or prove how effective the program was, and they could have provided that information, and then asked the question in a non-inflammatory manner, but that wasn't the point. The point was to justify why the city budget could not be reduced in any way, and why property taxes had to go up, and this was just one of many similarly inflammatory questions. Another question was whether a tiny and little used library branch should be kept open, or whether we should let the literacy rate decline.

Note: I'm neither for or against either of the above. I am, however, in favor of properly designed surveys.

�We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.� ― Epictetus

Bobcatbob
General User

Member Since: 12/21/2004
Location: Coolville, OH
Post Count: 1,347

Status: Offline

RE: Ridpath up to his old tricks

Posted: 11/14/2012 11:44:23 AM

Classic employee intelligence test question from my past:

Boss: When did you stop beating your wife?

New Kid: Uh, I haven't; I mean, I didn't; err, Never?

L.C.
General User

Member Since: 8/31/2005
Location: United States
Post Count: 10,497

Status: Offline

RE: Ridpath up to his old tricks

Posted: 11/14/2012 1:26:41 PM

Bobcatbob wrote:

Boss: When did you stop beating your wife?

Nice one, Bob.

To be honest, most "push" surveys are slightly more subtle.The normal thing is to ask some leading questions and/or slip in some "facts" in between questions to influence the outcome. For example, you might see:

1. Name a fond memory of a football Saturday.
2. What is your favorite thing about football games on Saturday afternoons.
3. What is the most annoying thing about week night games?
Interject Fact - Did you know that attendance of Saturday games is 30% higher than weeknight games?
4. Do you think football games should be held on Saturdays or week nights?

Now, suppose instead the poll was:
1. Do you like it when the Bobcats are on National TV?
2. When the Bobcats are on National TV, do you ever hear from friends that they saw the game?
3. Name an example of a time when someone recognized your Bobcat gear, after having seen the Bobcats play on a weeknight game on National TV.
Interject Fact - Did you know that, following the MAC agreeing to play weeknight games in November on TV, the recruiting services all showed a dramatic improvement in the quality of recruits going to MAC schools, and since that agreement, the term MACtion is becoming well known, and MAC teams are setting records for wins over BCS schools?
4. Do you think football games should be held on Saturdays or week nights?

Even though question #4 is identical, the responses you got would not be.

�We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.� ― Epictetus

OhioCatFan
General User

Member Since: 12/20/2004
Location: Athens, OH
Post Count: 14,760

Status: Offline

RE: Ridpath up to his old tricks

Posted: 11/14/2012 2:19:08 PM

Excellent, illustrative examples, L.C. Thanks!

Ohio69
General User

Member Since: 12/20/2004
Post Count: 3,061

Status: Offline

RE: Ridpath up to his old tricks

Posted: 11/14/2012 4:28:51 PM

bobcat695 wrote:

Does anyone know if David Ridpath thinks Ohio University spends too much on athletics? There's showing-up type support. And then there's supporting the funding necessary to play football and basketball on a division I MAC conference level. If I was a betting man, I'd bet Ridpath thinks Ohio should slash its athletics budget greatly.

Anyway, as long at McDavis is around this is a non-issue. Once he's gone, look out.

Can somebody hit a pull up jumper for me?.....

The Situation
General User

Member Since: 7/12/2010
Location: Columbus, OH
Post Count: 957

Status: Offline

RE: Ridpath up to his old tricks

Posted: 11/14/2012 5:21:10 PM

Ohio69 wrote:

While Ripath's opinion on OHIO's spending isn't explicitly stated in this article, one doesn't have to be too creative to imagine where he stands on the issue:

speakeasyohiou.com/2012/05/29/is-ohios-division-i-status-at-risk/

As the gap between the power conferences and mid-majors continues to grow, momentum is building in earnest for the big schools to form their own division. Ohio University assistant sports administration professor David Ridpath, who spent over a decade working in intercollegiate athletics, says that such a split is inevitable.

“You’re going to get down to four or five super conferences and eventually they’re going to break away, at least in football,” Ridpath said. “I think they’re going to have to because it makes no sense to have a lot of little schools trying to control what the big schools want to do.”

The Mid-American Conference has been quiet in conference realignment rumors and seems content with its current place in the collegiate landscape. As such, the conference would almost certainly be left out of any break from the current format.

“There’s not going to be a place for (mid-major) schools at that table, nor should there be,” Ridpath said. “They’re not going to be able to keep up with it money-wise, TV market-wise, TV contact-wise. Everything about (the big) schools is lightyears ahead.”

The Optimist
General User

Member Since: 3/16/2007
Location: CLE
Post Count: 5,597

Status: Offline

RE: Ridpath up to his old tricks

Posted: 11/14/2012 5:29:29 PM

bobcat695 wrote:

Dave Ridpath is a friend of Ohio Athletics.

lol

I've seen crazier things happen.

Showing Replies:	1 - 10 of 10 Posts
Jump to Page:	1

View Other 'Ohio Football' Topics

There are 251 Active Visitors on BobcatAttack.com

251 Guests
0 Registered Users

There are no other users looking at this page.