[Eugene Volokh, February 15, 2007 at 5:58pm] Trackbacks
Education Week Online Survey on Utah School Choice Plan:

Education Week polls site visitors on whether "Utah's plan to offer a statewide school voucher program is a good idea."

I think the results of such self-selected online surveys are bunk, since they're unrepresentative of the views of any group other than the group that happened to answer the survey. On the other hand, while I wouldn't quote such surveys or run such surveys, I'm not averse to participating in such surveys ....

Related Posts (on one page):

  1. Education Week Online Survey on Utah School Choice Plan:
  2. Utah Legislature Passes (Near-)Universal School Choice,
Richard Gould-Saltman (mail):
A brief digression on surveys and sloppy social science:
Doc, can you conjure me up a stronger word that "bunk", (but still usable in polite society) to describe , e.g., the "study" in turn cited by Newsweek as showing that "54% of custody cases involving documented spousual abuse were decided in favor of the alleged batterer"? Note the sample size, and the criteria for selection of the sample. And someone used grant money for this, and a journal published it....
2.15.2007 7:41pm
John Burgess (mail) (www):
Naughty, naughty, Eugene...
2.15.2007 8:16pm
subpatre (mail):
Perhaps Professor Eugene is being mischievous. Nonetheless there's great info to be obtained, though not necessarily the from the traditional stat perspective.

In addition to the survey's anwers are the (web) referer and the respondent URL. For instance, all respondents from this site volokh.com can be separated or grouped. So can all edu domains, gov or (more interesting from the behavioral standpoint) k12.*.state.gov answered between 8AM and 3PM and refered by Outlook Express.

Yes, the survey itself may be 'bunk', but there's a wealth of information to be mined.
2.15.2007 8:33pm
A. Zarkov (mail):
Richard Gould-Saltman:

Note Harvard School of Public Health, conducted the “survey” which concludes:

“Researchers Say Massachusetts Family Courts Fail to Protect Battered Women and Their Children …”

Based on the selection criteria:

“… women were also selected based on expressed dissatisfaction with the family court process.”

It’s amazing anyone could publish such a thing with a straight face.
2.15.2007 8:50pm
Alex R:
Of course, the Conspiracy has a broad enough readership that I wonder if this even constitutes a freeping?
2.15.2007 10:47pm