mmmm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimism_bias
until people know about optimism bias and its various forms, we often assume that the results of opinion statistics are accurate reflections of reality. and because there are too many meanings of the word "average" i think we have to "define average" ourselves first, in order to ask a meaningful question such as a poll.
do we mean
- average, or norm? what are we asking here?
- measures of central tendency? statistical measures? mode is very different from median, and both are different from mean. and how will you do that with non-numerical variables?
with opinions there are a host of psychological factors to take into account too (look up chapters on attitudes and beliefs)
apparently depressed people, as well as having a lower self-concept, have somewhat more accurate views of the world. what does this say about how non-depressed people's self-concepts?
until people know about optimism bias and its various forms, we often assume that the results of opinion statistics are accurate reflections of reality. and because there are too many meanings of the word "average" i think we have to "define average" ourselves first, in order to ask a meaningful question such as a poll.
do we mean
- average, or norm? what are we asking here?
- measures of central tendency? statistical measures? mode is very different from median, and both are different from mean. and how will you do that with non-numerical variables?
with opinions there are a host of psychological factors to take into account too (look up chapters on attitudes and beliefs)
apparently depressed people, as well as having a lower self-concept, have somewhat more accurate views of the world. what does this say about how non-depressed people's self-concepts?