Hold the Mayo

August 21, 2004

I Don't Get Statistics.

I always try to look at the world in a fairly straight forward way. Basic logic. Not a whole lot of nuance. This is why I always have a hard time with statistics and Polls. For instance this little tidbit of polling data from Rasmussen strikes me as odd.

Forty-seven percent (47%) of voters have a favorable opinion of Kerry's military service while 36% have an unfavorable view. Thirty-nine percent (39%) believe Kerry is telling the truth about his experiences in Vietnam while 31% believe he is exaggerating the truth and 15% believe he is lying.

If I'm reading this right (see disclaimer above) 8% of voters who have a favorable view of Kerry's Vietnam record believe he is either exaggerating or outright lying.

Hat Tip to Powerline

Posted by: Stephen Macklin at 02:02 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment

1 Apparently, this is how it works out:

Opinion of Kerry's military service:

Favorable: 47%
Unfavorable: 36%
Other(?): 12%

Opinion of Kerry's truthfulness:

Honest: 39%
Exaggerating: 31%
Lying: 15%
Other(?): 15%

Some possible explanations:

1. Some of the people who think Kerry is exaggerating or lying had an opionion of Kerry's service that the pollsters found uninteresting.

2. Some people have a favorable opinion of Kerry's service even if he is exaggerating a teensy bit. Or a lot. Or even lying.

3. Some people have an unfavorable opinion even if Kerry's telling the truth.

4. Some people lied on the survey, or checked the wrong box, or are idiots, etc.

Posted by: Jon at August 27, 2004 06:04 PM (pVqMc)

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