The Nation says ‘No’ – misrepresentation of a volunteer sample

Australia suddenly has a new Prime Minister (leader of the national government), the first time a woman has held the position.  One of the commercial television stations’ news website, ninemsn, led with the headline “The Nation Says ‘No”". 

Really?  Further reading showed that  respondents to a poll on their website (a volunteer sample from a potentially unrepresentative sub-population) had said they would not vote for her in an election.

In politics, where  perception can be everything, will this become part of the political wisdom – or be recognized for a shameless misrepresentation of the facts?  Stay tuned…

This entry was posted in Appropriate inference, Appropriate measurement, Appropriate reporting, Uncategorized and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

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