Monday, October 03, 2005

Will Gallup really not answer the questions?

Most of you know I've posted twice on a Gallup poll report of blacks and whites' responses to questions concerning the Katrina aftermath.

The first post, Gallup's reporting raises questions, is here. The second post, Gallup's response raises serious doubts, is here.

In reply to the second post, Gallup Senior Editor and the report's author, Lydia Saad, sent the following email last Friday, Sept. 30:
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Hi John,

Message received. I'm writing under a deadline today, so I won't be able to look into this until early next week, but I promise to do so.

Not sure whether I will submit another post, but I will give it full consideration.

Thank you.
Lydia
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After thinking about Saad's reply this weekend and today, I decided to send her the following email today, Monday, Oct. 3.

Dear Lydia,

I was surprised you are not sure whether you will answer the questions I asked. Since the questions are fact-based on Gallup's own poll results, and I'll publish your answers in full, what's the problem?

How can Gallup not answer these questions:

Why did Gallup's report headlines and lead paragraphs give no hint that your polling revealed such huge biracial differences as whites more than twice as likely as blacks to have an unfavorable opinion of Mayor Nagin and more than three times as likely as blacks to view the looters as criminals?

Given such findings, wasn't Gallup wrong when it reported in the lead sentence of the second paragraph: "Aside from Bush, whites and blacks have similar perspectives on how various entities handled themselves in the Hurricane Katrina disaster?"

The questions are important. They're supported with data from Gallup's polling and report. And they're salient to Gallup's reputation for accuracy and fairness.

If you leave the questions unanswered, as you did in your first response, who can doubt the conclusions reasonable people will reach?

Sincerely,

John
www.johnincarolina.com

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