Not posting numbers after all: Found Zogby Numbers error.

politicat

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Wed Mar-15-06 06:57 PM
Original message

Not posting numbers after all: Found Zogby Numbers error.

I've emailed Zogby to get clarification, but until then, I don't want to go forward. The men's numbers in the Jan 23 article add up to 106%, making the poll unreliable. (Margin of error was 1.3%)

To quote:

Among women, 50% said they favored the availability of abortion in all cases, while another 8% said they favor its availability but do not want the government to pay for it. Thirty-eight percent of women said they opposed abortion outright, or with certain exceptions. Among men, 59% said they oppose abortion completely or with certain exceptions, while 35% said they favor it always. Another 12% said they favor it but do not want the government to pay for it.

59+35+12=106.

I don't want to be accused of being a chick who can't do math, so I'm waiting.

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femrap

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Wed Mar-15-06 11:58 PM
Response to Original message

1. Good catch! I still think something is wrong with these polls

....I don't seem to trust anyone lately.

Whenever a man and I have 'mathematical differences,' I always say....'well, at least I don't have to unzip my pants to count to 21.' And it's usually said as I haggle over an outrageous bill I have been presented. lol. I look over my bills with a fine tooth comb...and it's so sad to say that I find a mistake about 30% of the time....I don't know if it's a 'mistake' or if it is deceit.

Let us know what you find out.

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NMMNG

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Thu Mar-16-06 02:36 AM
Response to Original message

2. Good catch

If you can't get a decent answer from them on this poll, perhaps the one they just did this week will be more accurate. I took it on Sunday, and it had dozens of in-depth questions about abortion (under what conditions should it be allowed, should "partial birth" abortions be allowed, should private insurance be required to cover abortions, should medicaid/medicare be required to cover abortions for low-income patients, etc.) This might be a follow up to the January poll just to see if attitudes have changed, or to get another sample/check accuracy. It will be interesting to find out the results whenever they show up.

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Katherine Brengle

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Thu Mar-16-06 09:51 PM
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3. There actually may be a very simple explanation for this--

the 12% who favored abortion rights but were against gov't funding could have been included in the "favor with few exceptions" category. Polls like this generally point out those who strongly oppose gov't funding, because it is one of the hot-button issues with the fundie pro-"life"rs.

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politicat

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Thu Mar-16-06 11:57 PM
Response to Reply #3

4. Not the way it was worded...

unfortunately, and it would still be a mathematical error if so.

The paragraph that shows numbers reads:

Among women, 50% said they favored the availability of abortion in all cases, while another 8% said they favor its availability but do not want the government to pay for it. Thirty-eight percent of women said they opposed abortion outright, or with certain exceptions. Among men, 59% said they oppose abortion completely or with certain exceptions, while 35% said they favor it always. Another 12% said they favor it but do not want the government to pay for it.

So, reading it semantically, they can't include the 12 percent who don't want government to pay for it in the 59% who oppose it or in the 35% who favor it always. If they put it that way, they still have a big error in reporting because of that word "another".

That's why I'm waiting for either new numbers or a response. It's the intellectually honest thing to do, and the academic in me is so disgustingly scrupulous about intellectual honesty that I scare myself sometimes.

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