How Conclusive Are These Surveys?

The WSJ reported a study which was conducted at UCLA and concluded that women are “chattier” than men by 3% (I know my wife would debate that.) It also suggested that muscular men are twice as likely to have more than three sex partners than their less muscular buddies.

So I ask the following:

• What segment of the population was tested?
• What was their age group?
• How many were tested?
• What was their ethnic background?
• What part of the country was the study conducted at?

I could probably go on and on with additional such questions. Interestingly, I see more and more such surveys conducted on the web by companies such as eMarketer, Project Implicit, The Wall Street Journal and many more, which shows a growing trend and an accompanying public interest. Although I enjoy reading many such surveys and implementing survey technologies for our clients I believe there is inherited danger in their findings. The interpretation of the results should not be held as an absolute truth but rather as a rough guideline.

And other than that, I don’t feel strongly about it.

Good Surveying.

Chad