Question 3.29

3.29 Popularity of news personalities can affect market share.

A Gallup Poll conducted telephone interviews with 1001 U.S. adults aged 18. One of the questions asked whether the respondents had a favorable or an unfavorable opinion of 17 news personalities. Diane Sawyer received the highest rating, with 80% of the respondents giving her a favorable rating.18

  1. What is the population for this sample survey? What was the sample size?
  2. The report on the survey states that 8% of the respondents either never heard of Sawyer or had no opinion about her. When they included only those who provided an opinion, Sawyer’s approval percent rose to 88%, and she was still at the top of the list. Charles Gibson, on the other hand, was ranked eighth on the original list, with a 55% favorable rating. When only those providing an opinion were counted, his rank rose to second, with 87% approving. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the two different ways of reporting the approval percent. State which one you prefer and why.

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3.29

(a) The population is all U.S. adults aged 18. The sample size is 1001. (b) Including all the respondents gives a better perspective of the popularity or reputation of the person. Excluding the respondents who have never heard of them or had no opinion gives a better perspective of what we might call their “likeability” (either in terms of their persona or the quality of their news reports).