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MidnightAdventurer t1_jee0yg1 wrote

Reply to comment by defalt86 in Eli5 why does a survey need to have a minimum of 30 respondees to be statistically significant? by shashwathj

Technically, you can say "Americans think America is fascist" not that it actually is. This is another common error that people make with data - You can only draw conclusions about what you actually measured and for surveys in particular, the way you ask the questions can have a big impact on the results

Asking people what they think is only measuring what they think, not measuring against an objective standard. To answer if America is actually fascist, you'd need to define some measurable parameters for what that means then collect data on those parameters

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defalt86 t1_jee17zh wrote

Fair enough. We would have to look at the many, many other studies that have already been done that prove America is truly a fascist state.

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MidnightAdventurer t1_jeg32az wrote

Sure, you obviously have a political point to make with your example...

My point was that in a conversation about statistical method, it is really important to make it clear that you need to be really careful that the statistics you collect and examine actually support the conclusions you make as this is a really, really common mistake

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