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British opinion still deeply divided by Brexit: poll


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1 hour ago, Grouse said:

1) History

 

2) Statistics give a probability not a proof. I can prove that they do provide a probability if you wish?

At last! Someone who understands statistics. I am hopeless at it.

Can you please explain to me how statistical probabilities can vary dependent on whether you use stratified, voluntary response or cluster samples.

I tend to use simple random populations but am not sure that serves my needs to always be right.? 

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2 hours ago, nauseus said:

You say: "It is also slightly worrying that the Brexit vote was effectively decided by people who had shown so little interest in the future of their country previously that they had never felt the need to vote".

 

How do you know that to be true? And even if it is, then that must reflect badly on an assumed group of remainers that has never turned out to vote on anything and that has not shown any interest in the future of their country at all, ever. 

I don't know it to be true, it was just the logical conclusion to be drawn from the facts and probabilities I had mentioned previously in the post. I don't have the exact figures, but it has been shown pretty conclusively that the number of people who voted Leave, never having before voted in an election despite being eligible to do so, was higher than the Leave majority in the Referendum.

I fail to understand your second point. There were obviously some people who had never voted before that also didn't vote in the Referendum. If they had done, some no doubt would have voted Remain, others Leave. Why does that reflect badly on the first group and not the second?

In an earlier post I suggested that it would be much more constructive to produce a counter-argument to my theories, as opposed to simply attacking one of my conclusions and thinking that by doing so it invalidates the whole argument. Why do you think the pollsters got it so wrong?

Edited by Stupooey
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12 hours ago, Spidey said:

I'm sure that sane Brexiteers, now realise that they were sold a dream that turned into a nightmare.

 

Worryingly similar to Trumpeteers. Both groups nailed their colours to the mast and now just can't back down, no matter how much the mountain of evidence tells them that they've made the wrong choice. Farang "face".

 

Its interesting that roughly 80% of Trump supporters remain loyal and roughly 80% of Brexit supporters remain loyal.

 

Does this mean that 80% of people find it difficult to admit that they were wrong, or that 80% of us are pathologically stupid?

 

If the referendum were to be re-run tomorrow, it would undoubtedly come out on the side of Remain.

I would think that it means that 80% believe they made the right decision.

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3 minutes ago, Retiredandhappyhere said:

Assuming of course that it was a totally representative sample.  I believe that the "leave" vote in the Brexit referendum took most polls using much larger samples completely by surprise

Not at all. The results were within the margin of error. There's a belief going around that the polls got it wrong big time. Actually they showed a very closes race right up to the end. Who did get it wrong were the pundits who were mostly engaged in wishful thinking.

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11 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

The UK electorate comprises about 47,000,000 people.

 

A statistical sample needs to be random and of sufficient size to attain a confidence level and a confidence interval (These are defined and provable mathematical properties).

 

A sample size of 2048 from an electorate of around 47 million will give a confidence level of 95% with a confidence interval of slightly over +/-2%.

 

That’s a mathematical fact, not some feeling in your granny’s bones opinion.

Mathematical fact? Big words. Hillary had pollsters by the bundle but still got knocked out of the park. There are no facts. We make up stuff as we go along. A good example is the third paragraph. 

Edited by Machiavelli
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2 hours ago, Stupooey said:

I don't know it to be true, it was just the logical conclusion to be drawn from the facts and probabilities I had mentioned previously in the post. I don't have the exact figures, but it has been shown pretty conclusively that the number of people who voted Leave, never having before voted in an election despite being eligible to do so, was higher than the Leave majority in the Referendum.

I fail to understand your second point. There were obviously some people who had never voted before that also didn't vote in the Referendum. If they had done, some no doubt would have voted Remain, others Leave. Why does that reflect badly on the first group and not the second?

In an earlier post I suggested that it would be much more constructive to produce a counter-argument to my theories, as opposed to simply attacking one of my conclusions and thinking that by doing so it invalidates the whole argument. Why do you think the pollsters got it so wrong?

Answer to your final question (only): either bias (for whatever reason) or just plain unprofessionalism.

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1 hour ago, Retiredandhappyhere said:

Another person, (this time not even British) who believes that he knows enough about the UK to be able to call everyone who voted for Brexit  "uneducated and uninformed idiots".   

idiots at least is too much for sure. Uneducated impossible to know. Uniformed or very well informed would not have changed anything...Since it was a vote mainly with the guts.

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6 hours ago, Retiredandhappyhere said:

Another person, (this time not even British) who believes that he knows enough about the UK to be able to call everyone who voted for Brexit  "uneducated and uninformed idiots".   

Oh, what gift the giftie gie us.....

 

Often very insightful to have someone on the outside, looking in, pass comment. They have no dog in the fight and, therefore, don't have the bias and prejudice that the rest of us have.

 

I have taught Americans on this board a great deal about Trump.

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6 hours ago, Machiavelli said:

Mathematical fact? Big words. Hillary had pollsters by the bundle but still got knocked out of the park. There are no facts. We make up stuff as we go along. A good example is the third paragraph. 

Not exactly "knocked out of the park". She did get more votes than Trump.

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7 hours ago, Retiredandhappyhere said:

I would think that it means that 80% believe they made the right decision.

Not one of the options I gave. Maybe you mean,  "want to believe they made the right decision" which comes under "farang face".

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10 hours ago, Retiredandhappyhere said:

Whether or not you believe the negotiations are going well or badly, the end result is not yet known, so the time which has elapsed between the Brexit referendum and the present day is pretty meaningless in that context. The only time in which a true judgement can be made is when the final deal is known.  As I keep saying, the EU is famous for compromise solutions to problems at the eleventh hour, and the eleventh hour is not here yet. As for an alternative Universe, I would prefer to live there rather than staying in the EU, which you clearly believe is absolute Utopia.

Now you're saying that the accuracy of the current polls don't matter because the question hasn't been decided yet.. That's entirely different from saying that they're invalid because of sample size or because of earlier history. And of course nothing in my explanation of the faults of your analysis has anything logical connection with whether or not I support Brexit or my feelings about the EU. Yours is a transparent attempt at deflection.

Edited by bristolboy
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9 hours ago, nauseus said:

Answer to your final question (only): either bias (for whatever reason) or just plain unprofessionalism.

If it was due to bias, then it seems very strange that very nearly all the polls were biased in the same direction. One would have expected 52% of pollsters to be Leave voters and 48% to be Remain; perhaps they both thought their side would gain an advantage by putting Remain ahead, but it seems very unlikely.

Unprofessionalism I would agree with, insofar as - just like the UK Government - they mistakenly applied the same parameters to the Referendum as they would to a General Election. 

I still believe my original explanation, regarding the treatment of previous non-voters, is the most likely one. At least it is backed up by figures, you have just plucked two words from the air with no facts to back them up.

Edited by Stupooey
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10 hours ago, Retiredandhappyhere said:

Whether or not you believe the negotiations are going well or badly, the end result is not yet known, so the time which has elapsed between the Brexit referendum and the present day is pretty meaningless in that context. 

Except that since the referendum over half a million Leave voters have died, and been replaced on the Electoral Roll by 18 and 19 year olds, who are likely to be mainly Remain supporters, if they follow the established pattern. Just one explanation for the shift in opinion over the last two years.

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10 hours ago, Retiredandhappyhere said:

Another person, (this time not even British) who believes that he knows enough about the UK to be able to call everyone who voted for Brexit  "uneducated and uninformed idiots".   

You know there is this wonderful invention called Internet. It allows people all over the world to look at news from all over the world. I read regularly articles from UK news, European news and even Al Jazeera. I read probably more than 100 articles which lots of facts why leaving the EU is a bad idea. I don't think I even read one article why leaving the EU would be good for the UK.

Obviously there are lots of articles like from Boris Johnson which make people dream about a better future. But without any meaningful facts. What do the hard Brexiters really want? Where is their detailed plan? They don't have a plan. They just criticize other people's plans.

I am not so ignorant that I think the EU is only good. It's obvious that the EU is far away from perfect. But it's still the best option.

People can dream how perfect this world would be without being in the EU. But it's exactly that, a dream. Reality is different.

And that brings us back to "uneducated and uninformed idiots". Smart people make decisions bases on reality and not on wonderful unrealistic dreams.

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3 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

You know there is this wonderful invention called Internet. It allows people all over the world to look at news from all over the world. I read regularly articles from UK news, European news and even Al Jazeera. I read probably more than 100 articles which lots of facts why leaving the EU is a bad idea. I don't think I even read one article why leaving the EU would be good for the UK.

Obviously there are lots of articles like from Boris Johnson which make people dream about a better future. But without any meaningful facts. What do the hard Brexiters really want? Where is their detailed plan? They don't have a plan. They just criticize other people's plans.

I am not so ignorant that I think the EU is only good. It's obvious that the EU is far away from perfect. But it's still the best option.

People can dream how perfect this world would be without being in the EU. But it's exactly that, a dream. Reality is different.

And that brings us back to "uneducated and uninformed idiots". Smart people make decisions bases on reality and not on wonderful unrealistic dreams.

Did the internet make you rude and patronizing too?

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