The guy at a Detroit bus stop broke down why that 63% stat on the news was junk
Last Tuesday I was waiting for the 4:15 bus at Woodward and Warren when an older man next to me pointed at the TV in the window behind us. The screen said 63% of people in the city support something, and he just laughed and asked me who they could have possibly asked. He said he worked phones for a survey shop back in 2018 and their quota sheet was 40 calls a shift, and the last 10 got flagged as done whatever answers got typed in. Since then I look for the sample size and who paid for it before I believe any of these numbers. Anyone else have a story like that where somebody in the know ruined a headline for you?
That old guy basically handed you a free class on how surveys are cooked. Forty calls a shift and the last ten just get filled in with whatever? That is not a poll, that is a guy making stuff up before lunch. Kind of wild that the same 63% gets thrown around on the news like it came down from the mountain. Next time I see one of those stats I am gonna picture some poor guy at a call center typing in fake answers while his coffee goes cold.