Chance News 61: Difference between revisions
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To be continued... | To be continued... | ||
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[http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/11/new-poll-shows-support-for-repeal-of-dont-ask-dont-tell/?hp “New Poll Shows Support for Repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’”]<br> | |||
by Dalia Sussman, <i>The New York Times</i>, February 11, 2010<br> | |||
This is a brief article describing how the wording of a recent NYT/CBS News poll affected the results.<br> | |||
When half of the respondents were asked their opinions about permitting “gay men and lesbians” to serve in the military, 70% said that they strongly/somewhat favored it. Of the other half of respondents who were asked about permitting “homosexuals” to serve, only 59% said that they strongly/somewhat favored it. The gap was much wider (79% to 43%) for respondents identifying themselves as Democrats.<br> | |||
One blogger commented, “It’s simple. Prudish Americans are squeamish about any word that includes the root word of ‘sex.’” Another blogger pointed to the importance of constructing ballot questions carefully.<br> | |||
Jeff Witmer referred ISOSTAT readers to the complete poll results available at the CBS News website [http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/poll_021110_2pm.pdf?tag=contentMain;contentBody].<br> | |||
Submitted by Margaret Cibes at the suggestion of Jim Greenwood | |||
Revision as of 17:09, 13 February 2010
Quotations
Forsooth
Census errors
Can you trust Census data?
Freakonomics blog, New York Times, 2 February 2010
Justin Wolfers
Bureau obscured personal data—Too well, some say
Numbers Guy blog, Wall Street Journal, 6 February 2010
Carl Bialik
To be continued...
Submitted by Bill Peterson
Height bias or data dredging?
Soccer referees hate the tall guys
Wall Street Journal, 8 Feburary 2010
According to the article, "Niels van Quaquebeke and Steffen R. Giessner, researchers at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, compiled refereeing data from seven seasons of the German Bundesliga and the UEFA Champions League, as well as three World Cups (123,844 fouls in total)" and found:
| Height Difference | Probability of Foul Against Taller Player |
| 1-5 cm | 52.0% |
| 6-10 cm | 55.4% |
| > 10 cm | 58.8% |
| Avg. Height of Perpetrator | Avg. Height of Victim |
| 182.4 cm | 181.5 cm |
Note that the height difference on average is only 0.9 cm!
To be continued... Submitted by Paul Alper
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“New Poll Shows Support for Repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’”
by Dalia Sussman, The New York Times, February 11, 2010
This is a brief article describing how the wording of a recent NYT/CBS News poll affected the results.
When half of the respondents were asked their opinions about permitting “gay men and lesbians” to serve in the military, 70% said that they strongly/somewhat favored it. Of the other half of respondents who were asked about permitting “homosexuals” to serve, only 59% said that they strongly/somewhat favored it. The gap was much wider (79% to 43%) for respondents identifying themselves as Democrats.
One blogger commented, “It’s simple. Prudish Americans are squeamish about any word that includes the root word of ‘sex.’” Another blogger pointed to the importance of constructing ballot questions carefully.
Jeff Witmer referred ISOSTAT readers to the complete poll results available at the CBS News website [1].
Submitted by Margaret Cibes at the suggestion of Jim Greenwood