🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <NEWTNews.4814.782702587.woolfson@woolfson.unicom.net> Eric Woolfson <woolf@unicom.net> writes:
>      That is the problem with "estimates" - they vary so widely
>    widely as to make them quesses at best.
>      Side note - Kleck called up 4965 households and asked the 
>    anonymous respondents if they had ever had a "defensive gun
>    experience" and when 52 said yes, he jumps to the conclusion that
>    there must be 2.5 million such uses a year.
>      Now you do the same poll, changing the words "defensive gun
>    experience" to "UFO abduction" or "Elvis sighting", and then
>    publish the results as proof.
>      See the problem? Think 52 anonymous responses "proves" that
>    Elvis is alive and sacking groceries in Des Moines?  

This is a perfectly valid means for conducting such a survey.  The
science of statistics tells us that if you select a reasonably sized
sample at random, that the properties of that sample apply to the
entire population as a whole.
-- 
John F. Haugh II  [ NRA-ILA ] [ Kill Barney ] !'s: ...!cs.utexas.edu!rpp386!jfh
Ma Bell: (512) 251-2151 [GOP][DoF #17][PADI][ENTJ]   @'s: jfh@rpp386.cactus.org
 There are three documents that run my life: The King James Bible, the United
 States Constitution, and the UNIX System V Release 4 Programmer's Reference.