Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Programs Communications Phone Interview

Sampling Plan

We will use a nonprobability sampling technique based on referrals to identify a list of potential respondents. Our contractor, DJ Case and Associates, will be conducting interviews with the following audiences: industry and state fish and wildlife agencies. The industry audience will be further subdivided by topic area into three groups: 1) fishing, 2) boating and 3) firearms/ ammunition/archery. Referral lists defining the universe of respondents will be created by industry trade association directors and by state fish and wildlife agency representatives.

Industry (30-36 interviews total):

In order to create a universe of potential industry respondents, we will contact the heads of major trade associations and ask for their assistance in creating a referral list based on trade association membership lists (see attached request for interview assistance letters in Appendix B). We will be contacting the following trade associations: National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), American Sportfish Association (ASA), Archery Trade Association (ATA) and National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA). The referral list will include potential respondents from a cross-section of companies and positions within these companies including CEOs, presidents, owners, and staff from marketing, operations and finance. We are looking for respondents from companies of different size, with different familiarity with WSFR and with different views on the WSFR federal, state, industry partnership. We will then use the referral list to select potential respondents. Letters to request participation (Appendix B) will be sent from trade associations before any follow-up call is made by DJ Case and Associates, who has been contracted to conduct interviews.

State Fish and Wildlife Agencies (15-20 interviews total)

In order to create a universe of potential state fish and wildlife agency respondents, WSFR will provide a referral list that includes equal numbers of the following positions: directors, biologists or program managers, communications staff, and federal aid coordinators. The referral list will represent 2-3 states or territories in each of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s eight regions, except for Region 7, which only includes the state of Alaska.

The referral list will include potential respondents from a cross-section of agencies and positions within these agencies. We are looking for respondents from agencies of different size, with different familiarity with WSFR and with different views on the WSFR federal, state, industry partnership. We will then use the referral list to select potential respondents. Letters to request participation (Appendix B) will be sent from WSFR Regional Chiefs before a follow-up call is made by DJ Case and Associates, who has been contracted to conduct interviews.