Consider the following:
23% approve of George Bush as president.
28% do not know that the earth travels around the sun.
Discuss.
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...And
tell me what the poll means.
These are from a poll conducted on July 5, 2007, by the
href="http://www.americanresearchgroup.com/" rel="tag">American
Research Group (sorry, no permalink):
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Question:
Do
you approve or disapprove of President George W…
There has been lots of discussion of this year's arctic sea ice extent. Last year was a shocking 23% lower record breaker. That's 23% lower than the previous record, for which one had to go all the way back to....2005! That's not 23% below the 1979-2001 average, but 23% below the lowest…
Apparently he did, at least according to Fred Barnes' new book, Rebel-in-Chief: Inside the Bold and Controversial Presidency of George W. Bush. I haven't read Barnes' book; I'm relying on a review of it by Ronald Brownstein, which includes the following:
Those who admire Bush will find plenty to…
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The United States is caught up in a new campaign for a military dictatorship -- rule by a military chief with absolute power. The White House, inspired by Vice President Dick Cheney, has argued that in time of great danger, the president has unlimited…
I think a Venn diagram of the voting populations would be useful. I suspect a large overlap.
In fact I would guess A intersect B = A
People "lie" about supporting the current president out of feelings of patriotism and party loyalty. There were a bunch of surveys about this when they were trying to find out why people still said they supported Nixon after his impeachment. You have to assume that Bush's approval rating is actually much lower.
I'm fairly sure people don't feel patriotic about the sun, but they may lie on that poll for shits and giggles.
One of the few good things about a monarchy - criticism of the government is not tangled up with patriotism.
Somethings to consider:
How old were the respondents to the poll? I think it is likely that people who are retired are more likely to respond to a 70-question poll. Older people are more likely to have hearing problems. Also, ~50% of all of us will suffer from some form of dementia in our old age. I'd like to see the results broken down by age.
Also, even with the younger population, people who are unemployed are more likely to be home and respond to these telephone surveys. More educated people are more likely to be employed.
Did the science survey correct for educational level?
I've met a heck of a lot more people who like Bush than who don't know the earth revolves around the sun, but then I do research at a University.
FWIW, Congress' poll numbers are about half of either of those.
Seems to be saying that there are 5% ill-informed enough to not know about the sun and earth, yet they're still smart enough to see dubya as a bad thing.
That is the difference; between cognition and information.
I agree with Mike (there is probably a large overlap) and came here to say what Eddie said---some people who don't know that the earth revolves around the sun are still smart enough to know that W is a disaster.