Since we seem to have a Statistics and Surveys Junkie maybe it would be helpful to state a few obvious points.
Statistics are not accurate. This is a fact! Take a look at the census, which enumerates the United States population. What many do not know is that the census is also supposed to include those Americans who live abroad, yet for over the last 20 years most Americans who do live abroad have NOT been enumerated. Therefore, government statistics of the true number of American citizens is INACCURATE. Americans living abroad still retain the right to vote, and each registered voter who actually votes is also supposed to be listed in voter statistics. However, most of us who are living abroad and who have voted have been told that our ballot responses were either never received or not counted! Therefore, the voter statistics are INACCURATE! Every year or so statistics are collected city-by-city to determine crime rates. But, these figures cannot be, and never will be, ACCURATE. Why? Becuase it is not being taken into account the number of crimes that go unreported. If crime is particularly bad in an area with high rates of retribution against those who report it, well, it just is not going to be reported! So in reality, areas with a far higher rate of crime may actually show up as having lower crime than other cities where crime is more regularly reported.
I have to question which statistical year is being used to "prove" the supposed high crime rates in the Phoenix area. This is what I've found just for 2006...
This one lists only ONE Arizona city, and it is in the SAFEST cities column.
http://money.cnn.com/2006/10/30/real...ties/index.htm
Yet this one has a different list, also for 2006
http://jobsanger.blogspot.com/2006/0...-rate-for.html
According to Money, these are some of the best places to live:
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/money...states/AZ.html
Regarding surveys, these are generally created for a very specific purpose. How many people have created a poll or survey as a method of proving their own point or opinion? Those who create surveys already have an agenda and they target households or individuals based on things like mailing lists, buying history, etc... So any survey respondant is already going to be inclined to respond in a way that the survey creator expects. If someone wishes to create a survey which proves their opinion that a certain area has high crime or is bad to live in they will target those who have either been victims of crime in that area or have made complaints about other issues, such as quality of life, etc...
When it comes to so-called surveys about the overall "quality of life" one has to question what life experiences the respondants are basing their opinions on. Someone who has spent their entire life in Boise, Idaho cannot make an educated or knowledgable comparison on the quality of life in Newark, New Jersey or Liverpool, England. However, someone who has lived in the Phoenix area of Arizona as well as certain regions of the UK can indeed give an educated and knowledgable comparison based on PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, and NOT on mere statistics and surveys. If you survey 100 middle-class Brits in the UK who have never left the UK even for holiday and then 100 middle-class Americans living in the UK I can pretty much guarantee that most of the Brits will be happy with their quality of life while the majority of Americans will find it less than satisfactory. If you only have one television and have never in your life had more than one, you will most likely say your quality of living is good. If, however, you were used to having a medium or large television in every bedroom plus the living room and find yourself suddenly having to make do with one small television, you will say that your quality of life is below standard. A large percentage of Brits do not own or drive cars and are used to walking or taking the bus. This is normal and is not considered a negative impact on their lives. But take away an American's car and life for them is really going to suck! Its all a matter of personal experience and nothing whatsoever to do with engineered surveys.
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04-17-2007, 07:21 AM
Which AZ are you on about?
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