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Originally Posted by Jason
I don't understand how CNN could actually publish something like this. 425 respondants... online??? Apparently the questionaire was misleading, too:
Whoever wrote the poll didn't do their research.
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Well Jason, this is where polls done by media outlets don't quite work as well as they could. For example, AC Nielson has many interactive consumer surveys going out there. Their sample groups are very large as compared to a week long telephone or sidewalk poll condcuted by a media organization. I doubt that 425 respondants is a significant enough number to be able to rely on when making conclusions regarding 280 million U.S. consumers. However when your sample is 90,000+ respondents, such as the case is with some of AC Nielson's panels, you get very accurate and representative survey results.
The point is that our society has evolved with the media to want polls and survey results and we have not been equally conditioned to understand that the number of respondents is also important to the validity of the data collected.