"87% of tweets indicate intent to purchase the iPad"
oddly enough, I have less of a problem with that article than I do with your post.
They clearly acknowledge all the limitations of the data right up front.
I can read that article and understand within the first 2-3 sentences that they are playing a game of mental masturbation, and then grin at the conclusions.
Its clearly a pointless piece of puff, and perfectly enjoyable as such.
My problem with your blog post arises because it is inviting me to take it more seriously than that.
You state upfront that it is based on MyType users who are on Facebook and who participated in a personality quiz.
The question you never speak to, and need to answer, is why on earth do you believe that a narrow sample like that can reasonably be used to draw conclusions about the broader set of iPad users?
do you fully intend that the blog post be a pointless piece of puffery similar to the techcrunch article? in that case, make that explicit.
do you actually believe that you can, using the statistics you have available, speak usefully about the broader set of iPad owners? explain why, giving your confidence level and other assumptions you have made.
If you want me to take it seriously, you need to take it seriously.
oddly enough, I have less of a problem with that article than I do with your post.
They clearly acknowledge all the limitations of the data right up front.
I can read that article and understand within the first 2-3 sentences that they are playing a game of mental masturbation, and then grin at the conclusions.
Its clearly a pointless piece of puff, and perfectly enjoyable as such.
My problem with your blog post arises because it is inviting me to take it more seriously than that.
You state upfront that it is based on MyType users who are on Facebook and who participated in a personality quiz.
The question you never speak to, and need to answer, is why on earth do you believe that a narrow sample like that can reasonably be used to draw conclusions about the broader set of iPad users?
do you fully intend that the blog post be a pointless piece of puffery similar to the techcrunch article? in that case, make that explicit.
do you actually believe that you can, using the statistics you have available, speak usefully about the broader set of iPad owners? explain why, giving your confidence level and other assumptions you have made.
If you want me to take it seriously, you need to take it seriously.