There are several methodological considerations readers should keep in mind when considering the findings from the pre- and post-dialogue surveys. First, the findings reflect the responses of dialogue participants, who for the most part, were from the business, labour, education, and community services sectors. Their views are not necessarily representative of these communities, or of the general population.
Second, the findings for each province are based on small sample sizes. As a result, small percentage point differences (for example, in the percentage of respondents "agreeing" with a given issue) are actually reflecting differences between only one or two respondents.
Third, the number of participants answering the pre-dialogue questionnaire differed from the number answering the post-dialogue questionnaire. The comparison of pre- and post-dialogue findings must therefore be treated with caution. In those instances when the findings of the two surveys are different, it could be due to a "real" change in thinking among dialogue participants, or it could simply reflect a change in the nature of the group answering the pre- and post- surveys. In an attempt to address this limitation, additional analysis was carried out for the smaller group of respondents who answered both the pre- and post-dialogue questionnaires. The results of this analysis were used as an indicator of the validity of the findings presented in this report.
In short, these findings are generally consistent with those presented in this report, and suggest that the change in response between the pre- and post-dialogue reflected a "real" change in thinking and not an "artificial" change due to differences in the survey samples.