Saturday, March 22, 2008

Seriously misrepresented polling data

From this article, entitled "Europeans Concerned About Climate Change":
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - People in all European Union (EU) countries express concern over climate change, according to the Eurobarometer conducted by TNS Opinion & Social. 57 per cent of respondents in the 27 nations list the phenomenon as their top environmental worry.
That last sentence should read "57 per cent of respondents in the 27 nations list the phenomenon among the top five of their environmental worries".

That's a big difference. If you disagree, try this: Tell your significant other that he/she will always be "your number one". After waiting a week, say that you've reconsidered, and that he/she will now always be "somewhere in your top five".
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Why didn't the pollsters just ask straight out "Do you think that global warming is a crisis"? I think they didn't ask because they were afraid of the results.

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