A Calgary Stampede official is defending a survey dubbed the "redneck test" by a critic because of questions dealing with the definition of marriage and women's role in the workplace.

Stampede spokesman Doug Fraser said the survey provides useful information to the organization. He also said the controversial sentiments expressed in some questions don't reflect the Stampede's values.

An invitation to participate in the online survey by Illumina Research Partners was emailed last month to 1,000 Calgarians, who became eligible for a pair of Stampede tickets if they responded before the deadline.

'They are important questions from the standpoint that they polarize people. They ask people to give a strong response and we want that strong response.'— Doug Fraser, Stampede spokesman

One person who responded Tuesday later dubbed it a "redneck test" on Twitter, a social networking site, and word of the survey spread quickly.

Of the 100 questions in the survey, 20 are called "attitudinal assessment" questions. Each presents a statement and asks respondents to indicate their feelings, from strongly disagree to strongly agree.

The statements range from "Kids today have too much freedom" to "I enjoy meeting people from all over the world" to "It is important to remember and appreciate the past."

Two statements, however, have stirred controversy: "The only acceptable definition of a family is a husband, wife and children" and "Some jobs are best suited to men. Women should just accept this."

Melissa Luhtanen, a lawyer with the Alberta Civil Liberties Research Centre, described these sentiments as painfully outdated.

"The Stampede has a big reputation to uphold and I think that people, to a certain extent, look to the Stampede as … reflecting Alberta's ideology," she said. "By having a Stampede-sponsored marketing survey, I think it makes it seem once again that Alberta is really redneck and not really with the times at all."

A picture of change in Calgary

Fraser said the Stampede's goal is to learn more about Calgary's changing demographics and opinions.

"We take this information, when it all comes back to us … and we use it for our marketing, for our programming, and for our products," Fraser said. "They are important questions from the standpoint that they polarize people. They ask people to give a strong response and we want that strong response." The Stampede has done a survey every year for 15 years.

Yvonne Brouwers, a spokeswoman for Illumina, said these same questions have been used by polling firms for decades.

"They are questions that professional market research firms like ours use nationally, internationally, to be able to understand how people think and feel," she said. "It's all about gaining insight into the consumer."

The results from the survey aren't expected for several months. Fraser said officials will decide then if they will exclude any questions in next year's survey.

The research company agreed to release the 20 attitudinal statements to CBC News but not the rest of the survey.