Friday, October 31, 2003
NUMBERS DON’T LIE?
(CNN) -- A majority of Americans in two different age groups have a favorable opinion of President Bush, according to a CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll, but the survey found sharp differences on a number of issues between younger respondents and those 30 and older.
I had a difficult time believing the above headline on CNN.com. After reading the article, the dirt is definitely in the details. The last paragraph of the story describes the stat summary of the polls.
Telephone interviews were conducted with 421 Americans between 18 and 29 and 884 Americans 30 and older on October 24-27. The poll's sampling error was plus or minus 5 percentage points, except on questions of registered voters (plus or minus 5.5 percentage points) and registered Democrats (plus or minus 8 percentage points).
It appears that two polls were taken one with a sample size of 421 and the other 884. Both polls have a sampling error of +/- 5 percentage points (it seems weird that both polls have the same rate when one’s sample is twice as much as the other), but the real kicker is the rate for registered Democrats at +/- 8 points. From my limited knowledge of statistics and polling, El Guapo’s Ghost can gather that in both polls a larger percentage of Republicans participated and possibly a huge percentage since the “registered Republicans sampling error” was not mentioned.
Our country is equally divided among liberals and conservatives, as our last Presidential election demonstrated, each poll should have had a fairly equal number respondents from each wing of the political spectrum in order to most accurately compare the political views of varying age groups. It appears that each poll had a larger number of conservatives participating; thus “A majority of Americans in two different age groups have a favorable opinion of President Bush.” The “Liberal Media” conducted a flawed poll and reported on it simplistically.
BTW, it was also mentioned in the article that
While 69 percent of Americans between 18 and 29 said they follow politics, 81 percent 30 and older said they do.
CNN's "Crossfire" co-host Paul Begala said: "If ignorance is bliss, then young voters are the happiest folks in America.
Nice attitude, Begala. How about trying to make politics more interesting to younger adults since you are in the media? Also, nice job in the Clinton Administration turning off young people after Candidate Clinton attracted many. DONKEY!
(CNN) -- A majority of Americans in two different age groups have a favorable opinion of President Bush, according to a CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll, but the survey found sharp differences on a number of issues between younger respondents and those 30 and older.
I had a difficult time believing the above headline on CNN.com. After reading the article, the dirt is definitely in the details. The last paragraph of the story describes the stat summary of the polls.
Telephone interviews were conducted with 421 Americans between 18 and 29 and 884 Americans 30 and older on October 24-27. The poll's sampling error was plus or minus 5 percentage points, except on questions of registered voters (plus or minus 5.5 percentage points) and registered Democrats (plus or minus 8 percentage points).
It appears that two polls were taken one with a sample size of 421 and the other 884. Both polls have a sampling error of +/- 5 percentage points (it seems weird that both polls have the same rate when one’s sample is twice as much as the other), but the real kicker is the rate for registered Democrats at +/- 8 points. From my limited knowledge of statistics and polling, El Guapo’s Ghost can gather that in both polls a larger percentage of Republicans participated and possibly a huge percentage since the “registered Republicans sampling error” was not mentioned.
Our country is equally divided among liberals and conservatives, as our last Presidential election demonstrated, each poll should have had a fairly equal number respondents from each wing of the political spectrum in order to most accurately compare the political views of varying age groups. It appears that each poll had a larger number of conservatives participating; thus “A majority of Americans in two different age groups have a favorable opinion of President Bush.” The “Liberal Media” conducted a flawed poll and reported on it simplistically.
BTW, it was also mentioned in the article that
While 69 percent of Americans between 18 and 29 said they follow politics, 81 percent 30 and older said they do.
CNN's "Crossfire" co-host Paul Begala said: "If ignorance is bliss, then young voters are the happiest folks in America.
Nice attitude, Begala. How about trying to make politics more interesting to younger adults since you are in the media? Also, nice job in the Clinton Administration turning off young people after Candidate Clinton attracted many. DONKEY!
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Thank you - Red Sox!
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