Simpsons 'trump' First Amendment

[STEED]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4761294.stm

Is that true?

[StdDev]

DOH!!

[August]

I seriously doubt that interviewing 1000 people out of nearly 300 million is a valid poll, claims of an accuracy margin of 3% notwithstanding.

[STEED]

Sara Cox: What was Bram Stoker’s most famous creation?
Contestant: Branston Pickle.
SARA COX SHOW, RADIO 1

Steve Wright: On which mode of transport would you find a crow’s nest?
Contestant: A plane.
STEVE WRIGHT’S BIG QUIZ, RADIO 2

Mark Chapman: What do you call the fat on a whale?
Contestant: Chewing gum.
THE CHAPPERS AND DAVE SHOW, RADIO 1

silly people in the UK

[Bill Nichols]

Curious article from a country that doesn't have a Constitution nor Bill of Rights :|\

[STEED]

We have the magnacarta, check the link if you want to read it.

http://www.bl.uk/treasures/magnacarta/translation.html

[Type XXIII]

Originally Posted by August

I seriously doubt that interviewing 1000 people out of nearly 300 million is a valid poll, claims of an accuracy margin of 3% notwithstanding.

When it comes to statistical surveys, the total population is not relevant. As long as you interview a representative sample of the total population (choosing totally at random is the best,) the results from that sample will with a high degree of probability be very close to the actual situation. This can be proven mathematically.

Of the numbers mentioned in the article, the only that I would call very uncertain is that one in thousand knows all the five freedoms. For such a small percentage, the selection isn't big enough to conclude with anything, except that it is very small.

[Bill Nichols]

Originally Posted by STEED

We have the magnacarta, check the link if you want to read it.

http://www.bl.uk/treasures/magnacarta/translation.html

I've seen it in the British Museum...

(Can't say I've ever seen the actual Constitution or Bill of Rights, however, even if I do live just outside Washington DC )

[STEED]

Originally Posted by Bill Nichols

I've seen it in the British Museum...

That's one up on me well done

I've seen the original Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. My dad took me on a trip to Washington, D.C., back in 1962. The Library of Congress was one of our stops.

[Bertgang]

Originally Posted by Type XXIII

When it comes to statistical surveys, the total population is not relevant. As long as you interview a representative sample of the total population (choosing totally at random is the best,) the results from that sample will with a high degree of probability be very close to the actual situation. This can be proven mathematically.

The mathematical rule is fine, the main doubt is about the representative sample.
The random choice doesn't work always properly; as example, you often need a percent of professionals and one of unemployees, a percent of young and one of aged people, and so on...
Several methods are used to solve this kind of problem but, on my point of wiew, the final outcome is that any "representative sample" is a mix issued from small groups, and so the mathematical rules about large numbers are lost since the start.

Add some minor problems, like people telling "random" answers, as not really interested to be a creditable statistical sample.

[August]

Originally Posted by Type XXIII

When it comes to statistical surveys, the total population is not relevant. As long as you interview a representative sample of the total population (choosing totally at random is the best,) the results from that sample will with a high degree of probability be very close to the actual situation. This can be proven mathematically.

Yeah i understand the theory, but it'd be hard to prove (to me at least) that such a small number could be representative of the total population. They claim an error rate of +/- 3% but it could easily be far greater, especially since the poll was run only once.

[TLAM Strike]

Of course they don’t know about the bill of rights, Homer destroyed it while sitting in Archie Bunker’s chair in once episode. It was the episode when Lisa gets a cellphone tower in her room and has to live with Bart.

BTW I could at least name 3 protected things in the 1st amendment to balance out the three Simpsons character’s I named… Speech, Press, Petition…

[TteFAboB]

Originally Posted by Bertgang

The mathematical rule is fine, the main doubt is about the representative sample.
The random choice doesn't work always properly; as example, you often need a percent of professionals and one of unemployees, a percent of young and one of aged people, and so on...
Several methods are used to solve this kind of problem but, on my point of wiew, the final outcome is that any "representative sample" is a mix issued from small groups, and so the mathematical rules about large numbers are lost since the start.

Add some minor problems, like people telling "random" answers, as not really interested to be a creditable statistical sample.

There's even more to it.

It's possible to hook the answer you're looking for by asking the right questions. It's also possible to, after the gathering, manipulate a few mathematical strings and make the percentages move one way or another, since we're talking % and not absolute numbers.

I've seen too many manipulated polls and innacurate polls (same subject, considerably different results and completely different outcome in reality), to accept any poll I see with a glance as a honest study worth of credibility.

Being able to name something and understanding it are actually two different things.

It's possible that someone who can't name the constitution understands, agrees and lives by those values in his daily life, how are you going to poll that?

[Type941]

a dumb headline aimed at taking a dig at America that's not on the point. Depends where you interview people. I saw a poll they did in LA on some easy questions and depending on the neighborhood the level of ingorance displayed by intervieweed was astounding. Some gave the impression of having come back from them little islands in the Pacific where news didn't reach japanese soldiers for decades that the war ended.