Sunday, April 28, 2013
Rapist Sled Dog Spotted in Connecticut.
The University of Connecticut decided to update the image of its logo, a Husky Sled dog. Geno Auriemma, coach of the legendary UConn women's basketball team likes the logo:
[It] “is looking right through you and saying, ‘Do not mess with me.’ This is a streamlined, fighting dog, and I cannot wait for it to be on our uniforms and court.”Little did he realize those eyes are the eyes of a rapist dog.Read more »
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics: Part CVXXXI
Before and after the gun control vote yesterday, ant-gun fanatics freely tossed around the 90% of Americans support increased background checks for gun purchases. While the 90% figure may be true for responses to a directly asked question, such as "Should all beef sold in grocery stores be inspected for safety of human consumption?" It doesn't mean that people necessarily care all that much.
When Gallup asked people the open ended question: “What do you think is the most important problem facing the country today?”, only 4% mentioned gun control. Economy in general Unemployment/Jobs, Dissatisfaction with Government, Federal budget deficit/Federal debt, Healthcare, Ethical/Moral/Family decline all ranked higher.
The question about background checks demonstrates a forced answer question, yes or no (maybe a "Don't Know - I couldn't find the actual survey.) In marketing research, which is all these polls are, these are the most commonly used type of question. But, we usually include the open ends to gather "unaided awareness," i.e. what does the respondent say/know/feel without prompting from us. We'll ask "What brands of potato chips are you aware of?" Then we'll follow-up with "Please tell me if you have ever heard of these brands of potato chips." and then read a list of brands of potato chips.
We also commonly use an importance rating scale. For instance, we'll ask respondents how much they agree a company does a good job on a variety of attributes or services. Then we'll ask them how important each of those attributes or services are. If an attribute/service isn't considered very important, it makes no sense to worry much about how well a company performs in that area.Read more »
When Gallup asked people the open ended question: “What do you think is the most important problem facing the country today?”, only 4% mentioned gun control. Economy in general Unemployment/Jobs, Dissatisfaction with Government, Federal budget deficit/Federal debt, Healthcare, Ethical/Moral/Family decline all ranked higher.
The question about background checks demonstrates a forced answer question, yes or no (maybe a "Don't Know - I couldn't find the actual survey.) In marketing research, which is all these polls are, these are the most commonly used type of question. But, we usually include the open ends to gather "unaided awareness," i.e. what does the respondent say/know/feel without prompting from us. We'll ask "What brands of potato chips are you aware of?" Then we'll follow-up with "Please tell me if you have ever heard of these brands of potato chips." and then read a list of brands of potato chips.
We also commonly use an importance rating scale. For instance, we'll ask respondents how much they agree a company does a good job on a variety of attributes or services. Then we'll ask them how important each of those attributes or services are. If an attribute/service isn't considered very important, it makes no sense to worry much about how well a company performs in that area.Read more »
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