Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Bob G vs "Survey Says!"

FoIB Bob Graboyes takes to the pages of US News to explain why judging the success (for certain values of "success") of the ObamaTax, based on ubiquitous and often self-selecting surveys, is destined to be disappointing:

"The phrasing of questions matters a great deal. Individuals surveyed may answer a pollster’s question dishonestly for a variety of reasons, or they may answer incorrectly because they don’t actually know whether they have qualifying insurance coverage."

Or maybe they think their better half took care of it. Doesn't really matter: you know the old saw about lies, damn lies and...

Bob wants to know just one simple thing: Why must we rely at all on these consumer surveys? They are subjective and prone to bias (both intentional and inadvertent). Surely there must be a better way?

And indeed there is. But you'll have to read his article to see what it is.

(It's worth it)
blog comments powered by Disqus