Methodology for Flathead County Housing Survey from Trenton Marlar, Embold Aimee Brunckhorst
From: Trenton Marlar <trenton@em bold research.com>
Sent: Tuesday, March 3, 2026 2:07 PM
To: Kalispell Meetings Public Comment
Subject: EXTERNAL Methodology for Flathead County Housing Survey
Hello,
My name is Trenton Marlar, and I am a Senior Analyst with Embold Research. I conducted the survey of
Flathead County voters that was presented during the council meeting on March 2nd, on behalf of Livable
Flathead. I wanted to provide some additional context around how the survey was conducted and why the
results can be trusted as an accurate reflection of voter opinion.
How We Collected Responses:
Residents of Flathead County were recruited through advertisements on social media platforms and via text
message. Anyone who entered the survey and indicated they did not live in a Flathead County zip code, or
were not registered to vote, was screened out. This left us with a final sample of 615 registered Flathead
County voters.
Why 615 Respondents Is Sufficient:
Is 615 respondents enough? This is a reasonable and common question we are asked. The short answer is
that you don't need to survey everyone, or even a large proportion of the community, to get an accurate picture
of what a community thinks. Major national polls routinely use samples of 600 to 1,200 people. Our survey of
615 Flathead County voters meets that same standard. The results carry a margin of error of+/- 4.0% —
meaning that if 60% of respondents supported a given policy, we can be confident the true level of support
among all Flathead County voters falls somewhere between 56% and 64%. That is a reliable and actionable
level of precision, and well within the range that researchers, journalists, and policymakers rely on every day to
make important decisions.
Ensuring the Sample is Representative of Flathead County:
We recruited a sample that matches the county's registered voter population across gender, age, race and
ethnicity, education, and 2024 presidential vote. This ensures the results reflect the full Flathead County
electorate, not just the people who happened to respond
I am happy to answer any additional questions about the methodology, the weighting approach, or the survey
findings.
Best,
1""iireo aton II idl r III'' III IIII'
Senior Analyst
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;: trenton(a)em bold research.com
w:www.emboldresearch.com
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