Malacanang has come out swinging against the October 2007 Pulse Asia survey that found President Arroyo the “most corrupt President” in the history of the Philippines.
PMS Chief Cerge Remonde called it “unfair, unkind, and un-Christian.”
Cabinet Secretary Ricardo Saludo said surveys like these were largely irrelevant. “Pinakamahalaga ang walang sawang serbisyo ng Pangulo sa milyun-milyong Pilipino, hindi ang rating niya sa mga survey ng 1,500 tao.”
The insinuation that the small sample size of such surveys rendered them insignificant was echoed in one of Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye’s statements. He said: “We therefore vehemently challenge the survey results which could have been influenced by a number of distorting factors such as the sample (1,200 respondents out of 84 million Filipinos), possibly misleading questions and even the person or persons who commissioned the survey.”
Executive Secretary Ed Ermita later amplified on that last point. Clearly referring to ex-senator Serge Osmena, he said: “It’s a pity that because of politics, certain elements — organizations or individuals – are using the survey as a fodder for their relentless attack on the President.”
Are the President’s men arguing reasonably? Judge for yourself. In Newsstand, I list many links, to Pulse Asia, to previous readings of earlier surveys, to the science of opinion polling. One thing I did not include there, which we can put to good use here, is the Sample Calculator. How big should your sample be, if you want it to be representative of the population you are surveying?
Go ahead. Give it a try.
December 17th, 2007 at 5:16 pm
There is this bogus argument that the Pulse Asia survey was flawed owing to the number of respondents that appear to be low just shows their desperation to rationalize and a lame attempt to fool the people.
While it makes sense to get the right ratio of respondents based on the sites computation and what appeared to be a low number is actually just what they need to get a good representation of the voting population. Just because you have 86 or 90 million people it does not follow that you compute the number of respondents based on the whole population because that would have included minors and new borns…….. meaning they have no opinion but just the same maybe had the same perception since they are too young to be aware of the pathetic corruption going on.
The fools who tries to downplay and destroy the crediility of Pulse Asia and the one who commissioned the 3 questions as biased maybe right but it does not mean that the poll conducted was biased. It was meant to gauge the voters perception that will serve as a guide on the level of PR and propaganda needed to unseat the majority.
December 17th, 2007 at 1:23 pm
Raul T. Lumacad,
I hope you understand, or know, what you are saying.
December 17th, 2007 at 11:46 am
Kabayan,
Salamat, here’s the link on my articles:
Arroyo is the most corrupt
http://pedestrianobserver.blogspot.com/2007/12/arroyo-is-most-corrupt.html
Perception War vs. Reality
http://pedestrianobserver.blogspot.com/2007/12/perception-war-vs-reality.html
Tha last link Perception War vs. reality is where I posted your list.
December 17th, 2007 at 11:36 am
To all of you, Who keep attacking me about my english. if you can’t understand what I wrote don’t read it. Now, To the owner of this blog. If you don’t want me to post just because you don’t like the way I write. Block me just like Gloria Arroyo, Et. Al. Blocking any accusation throw at her. Instead of putting me down. Why don’t you teach me how to write english properly. THATS THE PROBLEM OF WITH FILIPINO PEOPLE WHEN THE THINK THEY HAVE MORE THAN YOU THEY’RE PUTTING YOU DONW.
December 17th, 2007 at 10:47 am
i agree w/ pol. jaywalker…the govt. should address the corruption that is happening, and not fret over the results of the osmeña survey, for whatever its worth.
and while everyone’s so hot about surveys, another survey should be commissioned re opposition’s readiness to be an alternative after gma…you will be surprised. i read the email reactions from all over the world(many from the usa) re trepidation as to the opposition’s capability to rule(abaya’s column, standard)…maraming hindi bilib sa kanila rin…