|
Edited on Fri May-09-08 01:27 PM by enki23
I see it again, and again, (and again, and again, and again, and...). Someone posts a poll showing some difference that, given even the briefest glance, is *clearly* within the margin of error. Or some poll that has changed by a percentage point either way from a poll taken the day before is touted as showing "movement." Given 95% confidence intervals that routinely span a range of 6 to 10 percent or sometimes more, it should be *obvious* that this is statistically no different from the day before. And that assumes there are no problems with the sampling methodology in the first place.
And not only do people not get it, nobody even seems to notice if you point it out. If it's some Obama/Clinton thing, both sides just merrily go at it, seemingly oblivious to the fact that what they're arguing over doesn't even mean what the asshole who posted it *says* it means. Point it out, and you will simply be ignored. Nobody, I mean damned near *NOBODY* on this site knows even the barest basics about how to read a poll. The closest thing I ever seem to see is somebody saying some variation of "polls suck." Which is at least a sort of naive skepticism. Anyway...
/Rant
|