|
BitaTruble -> RE: BDSM and Weight (7/6/2006 5:04:38 PM)
|
quote:
I took this poll because I was currious just how many people were present who put size like people in the vanilla world first on thier priority list even over their lifestyle which this site caters to.
*Its plain by the poll taken that the majority of people polled do not come to this site to seek alternate lifestylers but people who fit their body perfect views.
*Says alot about the lifestylers of today here on collarme and where their priorities sit. (This poll does not represent the views of collarme. ~smiles~)
With all due respect, Mistress Dread, there are three flaws to your theory and a major misinterpretation of your result.
The first is - numbers only speak to those who answered the poll and can only be analyzed within very narrow parameters. Given the overall number of profiles on Collarme, the poll itself is a minute sampling. The vast majority on the other side probably weren't even aware of the poll so your target audience was, most likely, forum members.
Best case scenario - the answer would be: Of those who answered this poll.. X are the results. It's not a reflection of Collarme, or even the Collarme forums specifically, only a reflection of those who voted.
If that were the only flaw to the theory, it wouldn't be so bad. Random samplings are often indicators of generalities ... however, there is more.
The second and most important of the flaws is that for the poll to have any validity, one must ensure the OP was actually 'read' before a vote was cast. When you open the page the poll is available and the OP must be scrolled to in order to be read so it's entirely possibly and most likely probable that there are is a fair % of people who did 'not' know there was a restriction in place (a closed set) so it is by their own perception they may have as to what constitutes small, medium, large, etc.as well as the admonition that if weight was not important, those categories should not be chosen as answers. As such, and as there is no way of knowing how many posters actually failed to read or choose not to read the OP before answering.. it invalidates the results.
The third flaw is that even if the OP is read, it's unclear because it offers a choice but doesn't define the choices. You said, 'if size is what's important to you, then state your size' and if 'role and size is important to you then choose the sentence which best fits you.' This was the last line of the OP. It's entirely possible that only the first line "Id like to take a poll here on Collarme of its members and what size they present to the forum" and the size definitions were read. That last line may have been entirely missed all together. The problem is, you just don't know. I'll get to that first line in a moment, because it, of all things, are what throw your interpretation of the results completely out the window.
You didn't define 'role' and it's important that it be defined .. here's why.
For many, their chosen lifestyle is not a 'role' and they could not or would not view it as such .. rather, it's who they are, so they may automatically default to choose size because to choose sentence would mean they invalidate themselves. Ostensibly, such a person would probably be better off not answering the poll at all.. but given that it's impossible to determine if this scenario took place, again, it invalidates the results.
The problem is, you provided a 'closed set' but have no control to ensure it remained closed.
Now, to the first line - which does not invalidate the poll itself, that was done by other means.. but rather, completely throws your interpretation of the results out the window.
"Id like to take a poll here on Collarme of its members and what size they present to the forum." This sentence is specifically requesting that the member post their OWN size, NOT the size of those whom they may be seeking.
In effect, this poll says absolutely nothing about the average Collarme member or their motivations for being on Collarme in the first place and even if they did, your interpretation of the results is very far removed from what the poll would actually say were it even valid.
With regards,
Celeste - who probably shouldn't have taken so many math classes
*Bold and italic in quote is mine to reference the results interpretation
|
|
|
|
