Swimming with the tide....

[AndyRM]

Again, must be true then.

Best get my armbands on if there's some heavy duty tide swimming to do.

You have to ask yourselves though, 'in these dark times ' who really gives a toss what 1500 odd people think and is it really going to ease the pain?

3,000.

 

[Deleted member 28]

3,000.

Thought it was just over 50% of people surveyed which was 3000?

Could be wrong.

 

[Rusty Nails]

3,000 people, out of how many?

Very representative of the country.

Which 'reality of modern Britain ' do these people belong to?

Where is the this 'tide ' they are swimming with?

If you do some reading up on survey and sample theory you will find that a randomised sample size of 3000 will give you a good picture of the opinions of the population being sampled.

Nothing is 100% accurate, but a much better representation than one that will be obtained from the blokes down the pub.

 

[AndyRM]

Thought it was just over 50% of people surveyed which was 3000?

Could be wrong.

What @Rusty Nails said. You're wrong.

Also the government's approval rating in England is the lowest it's been in years. Quite a feat.

 

[Deleted member 28]

Where were these 'random interviews ' conducted though, London?

 

[stowie]

Where were these 'random interviews ' conducted though, London?

No.

 

[Rusty Nails]

Where were these 'random interviews ' conducted though, London?

Keep on trying. You may understand sampling theory and the meaning of randomised one day.

 

[Deleted member 28]

Keep on trying. You may understand sampling theory and the meaning of randomised one day.

Have you an answer?

Do you know where the interviews took place?

 

[winjim]

Have you an answer?

Do you know where the interviews took place?

Have you read the technical details document I mentioned upthread?

 

[Rusty Nails]

Have you an answer?

Do you know where the interviews took place?

They tried Wolverhampton but couldn't find enough people with the ability to respond sensibly.

If you actually read the article it shows how attitudes differed across the UK. To do that it would have had to sample people across the UK.

The technical information linked to by @winjim in post #3 shows in more detail that the sample was weighted to reflect the population spread of the UK.

It is all there if you really are interested in the facts of the survey, but I somehow know you are not and prefer to throw doubt on it because you don't agree with the outcomes.

 

[AuroraSaab]

In the Technical Details section it says that due to covid the surveys were online with a telephone option. Respondents were chosen at random from a spread of postcodes. Looking at the info it does seem a representative variety of people, re age, sex, race etc. Unfortunately the actual questions aren't available to see yet.

I think the survey is probably a fair snapshot but multiple choice online surveys aren't ideal. There's noone to ask 'What does that mean?'. Respondents will just pick an answer if they aren't sure.

I've done a few in depth surveys, the ones where they sit in your house with a laptop for an hour. You do need someone to clarify the questions sometimes. I also managed to get myself on a local list for consumer research. You had to try different recipes of cheese or say how much you liked a detergent bottle design, that kind of thing. £10 or £20 for an hours work. But again, when you were chatting with the other people, they'd say 'I didn't understand those questions, so I just ticked box A for them all'.

 

[Deleted member 28]

I admit I didn't download Jimbo's documents as I couldn't be bothered, I suppose the question is will the country be a better place now?

P*ss poor dig at Wolverhampton there, probably the amount of non white 'British ' people they interviewed!

 

[AuroraSaab]

I imagine the purpose is to inform policy. I'm very sceptical of using surveys in this way though as they can be very loaded and special interest groups use them to claim support for changes in legislation or policy based on fairly nebulous and inconclusive data.

You can fund a question on the Social Attitudes survey. If I paid up to ask an online question that was:

Do you think cyclists should have to pay road tax and insurance? Strongly agree/Agree/Don't know/Disagree/Strongly disagree

You would probably get a lot of agree/strongly agree responses. Whereas if the details of such a policy were discussed and explained, I think you wouldn't.

 

[BoldonLad]

I notice a couple of contributors have had the honesty to admit they don’t know enough about the subject and/or don’t have all the facts (questions etc) on this particular survey. Similarly my “O” level statistics is not upto the task of sample sizes etc.

Politicians are frequently accused of being out of touch with ‘public opinion’, perhaps, they rely on surveys too much?

It just occurs to me, how many such surveys actually get an answer which is “right”, whatever “right” may be, is the best measure of their usefulness.

My personal life experience does not match with the survey conclusions, but, I readily accept that, perhaps, my circle of acquaintances is not representative of the Nation.

 

[Deleted member 28]

On a serious note, no honestly, what drives someone to partake in a survey?

I've never had the inclination to do one either on-line or by post and as for 'in the street' I avoid all unsolicited contact with 'clipboards ' so just wondering really?