Comments on AUDREY AND THE BAD APPLES: Moral panic 'boring, predictable'.

Can I just point out who did the survey in the fir...

2008-05-30T11:25:00.000+09:30

Can I just point out who did the survey in the first place? May I suggest the phrse 'self-selecting?' I want to know if it was a random survey, or if they njust used their readers, and whoever wanted to take it.

That article made me SO mad. So mad I couldn't ev...

2008-04-26T19:55:00.000+09:30

That article made me SO mad. So mad I couldn't even blog about it. But I knew I could count on you Ms Apple.

"Despite spluttering angrily about the fact that p...

2008-04-25T08:25:00.000+09:30

"Despite spluttering angrily about the fact that people take climate change seriously, Kenny is a fan of taking other alarmist articles and discussing them as if they're fact."

Isn't that the crux of what's wrong with shock-jocks? Cynical about about uncomfortable truths, ready to swallow anything hook, line & sinker that reinforces their prejudices.

Do you feel dumber for having listened to them?

Ah Audrey my darling! Clearly (and very, very happ...

2008-04-24T20:23:00.000+09:30

Ah Audrey my darling! Clearly (and very, very happily for you), you have never been a News Ltd cadet and been forced to take to a perfectly valid story with The Beat-Up Stick. When I left the paper before last, I made my lovely deputy ed a beat-up stick to hang on the wall. It was half a broom handle, painted bright red, fitted with a rubber grip and studded with nails of various sizes so he could select the level of beat-up required: standard beat-up, Advertiser "Exclusive" or Today Tonight.

This is how the media works. It is the Borg. Resistance is futile. It is the Borg.

Oh statistics. The best tool for lying!I think Fr...

2008-04-24T14:42:00.000+09:30

Oh statistics. The best tool for lying!
I think Franzy has (also) done a good job in explaining how it's done!

There was a good article last year showing how seatbelt stats were misused:

http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/
10.1111/j.1740-9713.2007.00236.x

And, even more entertaining, one by Matthew Parris about how a false statistic can be so powerful through the media lying about (or not reading!) their sources.

http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/
j.1740-9713.2007.00247.x?prevSearch=allfield%3A%2
8%22little+red+lights%22+parris%29

So frustrating!

Although... I may have to start reading women's magazines just to inspire some 'fist shaking' blog posts!

"Wiles says last November an incredibly comprehens...

2008-04-24T12:23:00.000+09:30

"Wiles says last November an incredibly comprehensive survey was run in the magazine. Wiles says the AWW is a replica of the Aust'n population at large. They have readers of all ages and demographics."

That makes my statistical sensibilities cringe like never before. One would need to be deluded to consider a survey, no matter how comprehensive or well responded to, ran in a magazine to be representative of the Australian population at large.

"the AWW is a replica of the Aust'n population at large"

A REPLICA? FFS.

But your take on the stats is good... the whole thing is dodgy.

I reckon you've missed a trick there, Audrey. Perm...

2008-04-24T12:11:00.000+09:30

I reckon you've missed a trick there, Audrey. Permit me, you confused drunkard:

"... more women - 62 per cent - were worried about getting Alzheimers disease, than their partners dying - 57 per cent."

Never EVER forget to compare unrelated statistics to imply, in whatever small way possible, that all women are selfish and would rather remember where their they left their lippy in old age than have their strong husband by their sides. Because I'm sure the question went:

Would you rather
a) Get Alzheimers
b) Have the grumpy old fart next to you push off so you can spread out at night, or
c) Both!

Sounds like it's the same in Australia as the US t...

2008-04-24T10:11:00.000+09:30

Sounds like it's the same in Australia as the US then - somehow feminism got a bad name. Here, I think it was somewhere along the line after 1980 and our election of Ronald Reagan followed by the continued heavy influence of the far right.

Actually, it's a bit schizophrenic. Women are still encouraged to have careers, so some gains have been maintained. But my sense of it from how women are portrayed in media and even from how women often seem to portray themselves is that there's been a reversion to disrespecting women.

chuckle ~ At least you're on the case Audrey! Ke...

2008-04-24T09:38:00.000+09:30

*chuckle* ~ At least you're on the case Audrey! Keep up the media watch, it's appreciated by all of us - particularly when we're so drunk & confused all the time! I haven't set foot inside an AWW since my last visit to the dentist (ie, quite some time ago) so I'm feeling a bit jipped at missing out on doing that survey, but given that I'm drunk most of the time I'd probably tick more than one answer to each question and then they'd have to bin the results anyway 'cause it all be too confusing.

Sigh, I know... it exhausts me just thinking abo...

2008-04-24T08:24:00.000+09:30

*Sigh*, I know... it exhausts me just thinking about how the facts were spun to reveal just how pathetic the female AWW readership is. Such lazy, lazy 'journalism'.

I actually read the survey results whilst spending the weekend at my folks' in Victor Harbor (Mum is a great source for catching up on the pointless activities that ONJ, Maggie T and Catriona are doing). The survey sounded rather positive and as a cynical old anti-AWW who only reads it to feel outraged, I was faintly impressed.