On 5/27/04 11:12 AM, "Michael Hohmann" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> The survey was limited to registered voters who represent what percentage of > city residents? The poll included 800 people. Anyone who knows anything about polling knows that's a reasonable number for determining a statistically valid result. When the Strib conducts a Minnesota Poll, those samples generally run between 800-1000 people. Some examples: http://www.startribune.com/stories/784/ obesity (Feb 2004) - 806 polled school standards (Jan 2004) - 821 polled religion issues (Dec 2003) - 1049 polled war/terrorism (Sept 2003) - 817 polled Pawlenty approval (May 2003) - 1033 polled In addition to these Minnesota Poll examples, I read earlier today about a national poll conducted by Yale University that surveyed 1000 people. http://www.yale.edu/forestry/popup/events/summer04/poll.html To understand more about this stuff, here's a description of how sampling works for the Minnesota Poll. http://www.startribune.com/stories/784/701023.html It's probably straightforward enough to explain how the Hennepin County Medical Society's poll was conducted, too. > This survey simply gives local politicians cover if they support a smoking > ban. The broader measure of ALL city residents of legal age to smoke would > provide a more accurate estimate of a smoking ban's popularity. After all, > ALL residents use bars and restaurants and have a stake in any outcome, as > most bar/restaurant owners would attest. No, what it does is give local politicians a pretty clear picture of how the likely voters in their wards feel about this issue. If I were a CM, I'd think long and hard about potentially risking three votes for every one I might gain from opposing a ban. > I believe that registered city voters actually represent a minority portion of > the city population that should have been surveyed, to say nothing of possibly > getting input from non-city residents that also frequent city bars and > restaurants regularly. I believe rather than making unsupported statements like "I believe registered city voters actually represent a minority portion of the city population", one should maybe try checking with the city elections office and find out if that's actually the case. Otherwise, it's just worthless speculation. As for getting input from non-city residents, who cares? They don't vote for mayor of Minneapolis or any of its council members. Minneapolis elected officials should be accountable to residents of Minneapolis, not visitors from neighboring cities. Mark Snyder Windom Park REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
