Latest News
01-12-09
Newsweek
Letters to the Editor
January 11, 2009
In the Newsweek article "Don't Ask Too Fast" (Jan. 12), Dan Ephron cites a so-called poll conducted by the Military Times. The newspaper admits that its poll abandons professional polling standards. It surveyed only subscribers to its newspaper via e-mail. "The voluntary nature of the survey, the dependence on e-mail and the characteristics of Military Times readers could affect the results," the paper noted. Yet, strangely, Ephron failed to mention these significant caveats and instead unambiguously left the impression the poll is a legitimate measure of public opinion of the military. It is not. The poll is wildly unscientific and thus unusable in a journalistically respected news outlet such as Newsweek.
Aubrey Sarvis
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network
Washington, D.C.
An Informal Poll
Newsweek
Letters to the Editor
January 11, 2009
In the Newsweek article "Don't Ask Too Fast" (Jan. 12), Dan Ephron cites a so-called poll conducted by the Military Times. The newspaper admits that its poll abandons professional polling standards. It surveyed only subscribers to its newspaper via e-mail. "The voluntary nature of the survey, the dependence on e-mail and the characteristics of Military Times readers could affect the results," the paper noted. Yet, strangely, Ephron failed to mention these significant caveats and instead unambiguously left the impression the poll is a legitimate measure of public opinion of the military. It is not. The poll is wildly unscientific and thus unusable in a journalistically respected news outlet such as Newsweek.
Aubrey Sarvis
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network
Washington, D.C.
