1% is meaningful

Reader comment on item: British Opinion Surveys from an Islamist Hell

Submitted by Aaron R. (United States), Jul 26, 2005 at 03:14

Actually a 1% probability with 500 people surveyed is meaningful. The typical 3 or 4% uncertainty cited in surveys does not apply for responses close to 0 or 100%; in those cases the error is much smaller. In this case, the likely range, from statistical considerations only, is roughly 0.6% to 1.4%.

Search for "variance of binomial distribution" for an explanation.

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