QUANTATIVE TECHNIQUES

CASE STUDY-05

Public Opinion About President

On May 16, 1994, Newsweek reported the results of a public opinion
poll that asked: "From everything you know about Bill Clinton, does
he have the honesty and integrity you expect in a president?" (p. 23).
Poll surveyed 518 adults and 233, or 0.45 of them (clearly less than
half), answered yes.
Could Clinton's adversaries conclude from this that only a minority
(less than half) of the population of Americans thought Clinton had
the honesty and integrity to be president?

ANSWER: Yes, Clinton's adversaries could conclude from this that

only a minority (less than half) of the population of Americans
thought Clinton had the honesty and integrity to be president. The poll
surveyed a sample of 518 adults and found that only 233 of them (less
than half) answered yes to the question about Clinton's honesty and
integrity. Since the sample size is large enough and representative of
the population, the results can be generalized to the entire population
of American adults. Therefore, it can be inferred that at the time of the
poll, less than half of the American population believed that Clinton
had the honesty and integrity to be president. However, it's important
to note that public opinion is subject to change, and Clinton's approval
ratings may have varied over time.