On Friday, July 17, 2020 at 1:19:44 PM UTC-4, Taxed and Spent wrote:
> On 7/17/2020 10:11 AM, Dave Smith wrote:
> > On 2020-07-17 9:37 a.m., jmcquown wrote:
> >> On 7/17/2020 9:05 AM, Dave Smith wrote:
> >>> On 2020-07-17 8:47 a.m., jmcquown wrote:
> >>>> On 7/16/2020 8:20 PM, Dave Smith wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>> The kid is supposedly working on his masters. We didn't have
> >>>>> personal computers and the internet when I was at university. A
> >>>>> significant amount of my course load involved research and
> >>>>> critiquing research methods, and I was TA for my thesis advisor in
> >>>>> his course on experimental psychology.Â* I just can't see there being
> >>>>> any validity to polls distributed through Usenet groups.Â* I am not
> >>>>> going to click on that link to figure out why they are trying to
> >>>>> bait people into clicking on it.
> >>>>
> >>>> Too bad they didn't have personal computers in your school days,
> >>>> Dave. I can't imagine how else someone in Milan would be able to
> >>>> ascertain the pasta buying habits of people in the US during the
> >>>> Covid-19 pandemic. Bocconi University offers Masters programs in
> >>>> economics and management, among other things.Â* (I looked it up before
> >>>> I took the very straightforward survey.)
> >>>>
> >>>
> >>> You are so trusting Jill. Anyone can go online and check out the names
> >>> of universities and the programs offered and then make up a plausible
> >>> story about the research they are doing. This one was pretty Mickey
> >>> Mouse.
> >>
> >> I'm actually very much a cynic, Dave, but I get your point.Â* Having said
> >> that, it's exactly what the OP said it would be.Â* The survey asks, among
> >> other things: are you buying pasta online vs. buying in physical stores
> >> due to the pandemic?Â* Do you prefer to buy certain brands and if so have
> >> there been any brand shortages/interruptions in the supply chain as a
> >> result of the pandemic?Â* Any economic impact [presumeably regarding the
> >> price of pasta] as a result of Covid-19?Â* If you're stuck at home, which
> >> is more important, the price, availability, having recipies on the the
> >> box to give you ideas of what to cook?Â* Recipes your kids could make?Â* I
> >> found it interesting. <shrug>
> >>
> >
> > It's just not the way legitimate research is done. They need a reliable
> > sample of the population. The whole thing stinks of click bait.
> >
>
>
> it is a university class project. They know about proper sampling, but
> that takes time and money. So, the simulate, and learn something.
>
> I wish they had a comments section. There was one piece where I was
> forced to rank 5 things from 1 to 5. None of them meant a darn to me (I
> snuck my comment on that in a space for "other" in another question.

Good thinking. I just left the items in their original order.

Cindy Hamilton