Friends and aquantainces poll results

[dex]

So I was looking at the Male/Female Friends and Aquantainces poll results and trying to see what; if anything they tell me.
My first reaction is that polls in general do not tell you much.

Males and females who are retired have aproximately the same number of friends and aquantaines.

Anyone else have insights into what this information tells us?


Males
F Avg A Avg
0 3 0 0 0
1 5 5 0 0
2 6 12 1 12
3 3 9 0 0
4 2 8 3 24
5 1 5 3 15
6 10 60 1 6
or more
7 0 0
8 16 128
or more
Total 30 99 24 185
Avg 3.3 7.7
Total Votes 33

Females
F Avg A Avg
0 1 0 1 0
1 2 2 0 0
2 3 6 2 12
3 1 3 1 3
4 2 8 1 8
5 1 5 0 0
6 5 30 1 6
or more
7 1 7
8 5 40
or more
Total 15 54 12 76
Avg 3.6 6.3
Total Votes 15

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Need to fix that table.

And the approach to polls is to already know what you want to learn, then ask the question that will give you the data that proves your theory

Although sometimes the answers are more or less "proof-ful".

[Rustic23]

Statistics! AHHHH…. It tells you what ever you want it to. For one more men than women replied, doesn’t even tell you if more men than women read it, who lied, who told the truth. Results or either Statistically significant or Statistically insignificant. A 3.3 average vs 3.6 WOW a great difference or ho hum. Over all, however, 48 people responding seems like an extremely small sample size to develop any conclusion. Is that 48 vs all FIRE, 48 vs Population, 48 vs Forum Members? Most likely 48 vs the Forum Members that have the time or desire to log on daily and reply to polls.

Ok, so this post is not much help, but, in statistics, how a poll is created, and how it is administered makes all the difference in the world. That is why the papers predicted Duey over Truman in their election. The papers polled by telephone. More affluent people in the late 40’ had telephones and they favored Duey. That is also why Democratic and Republican polls seem to be so diverse, and why most poll results released by the media have a bias. (you can pick which bias) Most people don’t realize that the questions leading up to the main question will influence the answer reported. ‘Push Polls’, used by politicians go like this,

1. “Have you heard that Mr. X is a child molestor?”
2. “Are you going to vote for Mr X or M. Y?”

I question every poll I hear, because you are never given the complete methodology or results and the people conducting the poll have a vested interest in the outcome. As I have said before “Statistics never lie, statisticians do!”

[Martha]

Dex, you had 15 responses to your women's poll and 33 to your men's polls, so not a lot of reponses to draw conclusions from. But, I was surprised at the number who said they had six or more friends.

I am not retired so I didn't answer the poll. But if I had my two best friends wouldn't have shown up as a friends because I don't see them every two weeks.l Though I talk to them more often. These are the friends who would help me "hide the body."

Other less close friends would show up as friends in the poll simply because I see them all the time.

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Either you accurately measured the number of introverts and extroverts, the number of liars and truth tellers, or that some people make more friends than others and keep them.

[dex]

I think what this tells me is that polls (on this board anyway) are not of much value.

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Not necessarily. Etheric polls give etheric results.

[Nords]

Originally Posted by Cute Fuzzy Bulldog

Etheric polls give etheric results.

etheric
Main Entry: ether
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Latin aether, from Greek aithEr, from aithein to ignite, blaze; akin to Old English Ad pyre -- more at EDIFY
1 a : the rarefied element formerly believed to fill the upper regions of space
b : the upper regions of space : HEAVENS
2 a : a medium that in the wave theory of light permeates all space and transmits transverse waves
b : AIRWAVES
3 a : a light volatile flammable liquid C4H10O used chiefly as a solvent and anesthetic
b : any of various organic compounds characterized by an oxygen atom attached to two carbon atoms
- ethe·ric /i-'ther-ik, -'thir-/ adjective

Geez, I can almost feel the folds in my cerebral cortex getting deeper.

[REWahoo]

Originally Posted by Nords

Geez, I can almost feel the folds in my cerebral cortex getting deeper.

Something's getting deeper around here, that's for sure... :P

[Jarhead*]

Originally Posted by REWahoo!

Something's getting deeper around here, that's for sure... :P

Yep, Mr. Run Silent, Run Deep, can shovel it with the best of them.

[cute fuzzy bunny]

C'mon you guys, a little professional courtesy?



Watch and learn, kiddies....watch and learn.

[Nords]

Originally Posted by Jarhead*

Yep, Mr. Run Silent, Run Deep, can shovel it with the best of them.

That's just because I have a big shovel...