survey statistics work by computing the margin of error for a specific sample size.
for example, if you toss a coin, say 10times and it shows heads 9 out of ten times, would you say "oh this was completely coincidental, you have to throew it more times before you can know!" or would you already say the coin is biased after ten tosses?
And the key thing is: there is math for that. "How probable is it that this result that I see is representative for all the possible coin tosses that I could ever make with this coin?" or, in our case here "How probable is it that the result of _these_ 6000 people here is close enough to what I'd get if I ask all Americans with a College degree?"
and let me assure you, a sample size of 6000, properly controlled for biases, gives a very representative result.
If you'd cry foul for 30 respondents, I'm with you.
but for 6000? and a professional research institute which klnows how to do their homework? nah.
If you doubt what I say here, feel free to brush up your statistics (udemy, udacity, ...) and then review the Pew methodology. I'll be curious about your findings.
survey statistics work by computing the margin of error for a specific sample size.
for example, if you toss a coin, say 10times and it shows heads 9 out of ten times, would you say "oh this was completely coincidental, you have to throew it more times before you can know!" or would you already say the coin is biased after ten tosses?
And the key thing is: there is math for that. "How probable is it that this result that I see is representative for all the possible coin tosses that I could ever make with this coin?" or, in our case here "How probable is it that the result of _these_ 6000 people here is close enough to what I'd get if I ask all Americans with a College degree?"
and let me assure you, a sample size of 6000, properly controlled for biases, gives a very representative result.
If you'd cry foul for 30 respondents, I'm with you.
but for 6000? and a professional research institute which klnows how to do their homework? nah.
If you doubt what I say here, feel free to brush up your statistics (udemy, udacity, ...) and then review the Pew methodology. I'll be curious about your findings.