How Conclusive Are These Surveys?
The WSJ reported a study which was conducted at UCLA and concluded that women are “chattier” than men by 3% (I know my wife would debate that.) It also suggested that muscular men are twice as likely to have more than three sex partners than their less muscular buddies.
So I ask the following:
- What segment of the population was tested?
- What was their age group?
- How many were tested?
- What was their ethnic background?
- What part of the country was the study conducted at?
I could probably go on and on with additional such questions. Interestingly, I see more and more such surveys conducted on the web by companies such as eMarketer, Project Implicit, The Wall Street Journal and many more, which shows a growing trend and an accompanying public interest. Although I enjoy reading many such surveys and implementing survey technologies for our clients I believe there is inherited danger in their findings. The interpretation of the results should not be held as an absolute truth but rather as a rough guideline.
And other than that, I don’t feel strongly about it.
Good Surveying.
Chad
Dov
The Bridge to Web Success