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So, a Harris poll of a whopping 2,513 adults was conducted, and the favorite book among all Americans of all demographics is……
(For fun, run a Google image search for ‘Bible’- My personal favorite is the picture with the caption “Jesus dies on page 681″)
I have SO MANY ISSUES with this poll that I don’t even know where to begin. So, in no particular order:
1. They only questioned 2,513 people. I realize that polls have to be samples, but that seems like a pretty small sample to determine something like “America’s Favorite Book.”
2. Why does the Bible belong in a survey like this? Shouldn’t the Bible, the Qu’ran and Torah have their own special category? I mean, I don’t think it’s something that people just pick up to read; that they go to the book store and say to themselves “Ooh! I heard the Bible was really good!” and then proceed to read it from cover to cover. Or do they?
3. On a related note, do people feel obligated to say “the Bible” in these polls? Because it’s the “most important” book in their lives? There is a difference between important spiritual guide and wicked awesome good read. Right? Like, it makes sense to me that the Bible is the top-selling book in the world. But everyone’s favorite read? Can we explore this question?
4. As for the rest of the list, the murky choice of number two is equally confusing. Gone With the Wind makes some sense, as it is considered an American classic, but the Lord of the Rings trilogy? Whom did they interview for this poll?? I love those books, but I don’t know a ton of people who have read them outside my close knit circle of super geeky friends. A lot of less geeky people I know tried but found them incredibly obtuse. And unless you’re really into fantasy and mythology, they kind of are. Are way more Americans than I ever imagined really into fantasy and mythology?? Should D&D be our new national pastime??
5. Do you think it’s coincidence that both number two choices have fantastic (and wildly popular) film adaptations?
6. Dan Brown made the list twice?!? Ouch.
The rest of the top ten makes a lot more sense to me, because it seems to accurately reflect America’s collective taste in books. The Harry Potter Series is big with 18-34 years olds – nothing new there. To Kill a Mocking Bird and Catcher in the Rye are probably the two best high school reading staples, which makes me wonder more about those top choices. Are they books that Americans feel obligated to pick because they are heralded as great?
I want to know more about how this poll was conducted. What do you all think?
The sample size itself is actually pretty good. That’s double what Gallup uses to measure the national opinion on presidential candidates. Also: the relation of sample size to margin of error is asymptotic – with the American population specifically, you get diminishing returns in accuracy when you go past a 1,000 person sample size. Still, I think the sample itself is probably biased. You can see the methodology here: http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/index.asp?PID=892
Notice that Harris admits and tries to gloss over two points – that the sample is drawn from Harris Online members and that Harris doesn’t attempt to measure their margin of error. Also, certain demographics in the sample were weighted to bring them in line with their actual representation in the overall population. That seems like a problem: how do you “weight” an unprompted response to “what is your favorite book?” aside from simply eliminating the answers of people who were overrepresented and double-counting the answers of people who were underrepresented. Since they’re not using stratified sampling, the margin of error resulting from manipulating responses within smaller demographic groups is probably significant. This is all speculation, though. I’d like to see more complete information on their methodology as well.
The whole conclusion is kind of useless, as well. What does it mean for a book to be most cited as “favorite” among Americans? The only meaningful conclusion we can REALLY draw from this study (assuming no major bias in the sample) is what title most Americans will SAY when asked the question “What is your favorite book?” Having this information tells us nothing else. We can make no conclusions about what Americans are actually reading, how often they are reading it, or anything else that relates significantly to what Americans are doing or thinking.
I have two thoughts, and that’s it. I refuse anymore thought until further notice.
First, I definately think that people are answering “the Bible” out of some sense of obligation. I also think that most of them are bullshitting. My brother was arguing with one of our cousins about reading the Bible, and it was news to her that there are three creation stories in Genesis. Here she was talking about how everyone should read and interperet the Bible literally, and she didn’t even know what was in it.
Second, I would bet that a lot of people who still read regularly are also nerds. That would account for the large number of LoTR responses. That, and the movies were cute. People like cute things.
Also, the sample probably skews toward nerds because everyone who took the poll had to be a) On the internet and b) Nerdy enough to sign up with a polling website.
1. Insert period
2. Its should be “it’s”
3. Its should be “it’s”
4. Alot should be “a lot”
Who should be “whom”
your should be “you’re”
5. Its should be “it is”
5. the second 5 should be 6
Last paragraph: American’s should be “Americans”
If people are going to publish their writing, even online, they should know basic grammar or at least hire a proofreader.
Wow, Grammar Counts, you’re a terrible proofreader! You overlooked:
Opening: Missing comma in the last sentence preceding the list.
2. double-negative in #2, followed by comma-in-place-of-semicolon, followed by missing capitalization of the interjection “Ooh!”
3. Missing quotes, apostrophes where there should be quotes. Missing hyphen in “top selling.”
4. “past time” should be “pastime”
5. The second 5 may have been a joke, a structural version of a double-take, referencing the fact that Dan Brown got on the list twice. Who’s to say? Nonetheless, I fixed it.
Last Paragraph: There was a second “alot” here, a sentence starting with “which,” and, finally, an unnecessary comma preceding “because.”
If you’re going to go to people’s blogs and point out their grammatical errors in an ordered list, at least take the time to catch them all. That’s what I would do if I subscribed to your view of “Always take the time to be rigidly grammatically correct before publishing any statement.” In any case, I’ve made the necessary corrections. As we do not derive revenue from this site, we cannot afford to “hire” a proofreader (something you recommend as though it were a trivial and obvious solution). Proofreading must wait until we have time to do it ourselves. While I believe that grammar counts, I disagree strongly with your statement that people publishing online have a duty to make all of their postings grammatically perfect before publishing. First, one of the primary reasons for posting online is to make commentary on current events. If bloggers have to wait for a proofreader before they post anything, they’ve lost the rapid exchange of information that makes the internet unique and valuable. Second, posts on the internet can be corrected after they’ve been published, so I think that, as per my first point, the priority must be on getting the content out the door quickly, and then on correcting for grammar. Third and finally, this is a blog in the backwater of the internet; it can and should have a relaxed and informal tone. You mentioned that grammar is important, but you failed to state WHY, so I’ll take the liberty: grammar is important, first and foremost, so that language can be understood. Much of English grammar is not entirely necessary in this regard (as a language, it’s been through a lot to get where it is today). None of the mistakes you pointed out seemed to interfere with your understanding of Rollerson’s post (Girl’s got two degrees; she gets her points across with or without apostrophes). So, please, have some empathy for our situation and judge us not by the grammatical rigor of our sentences, but by the content of our posts. Thanks!
When I saw this poll my first thought was, “how many respondents who answered with the bible have actually ever read it? I’m guessing less than a quarter.”
My second thought was, “I didn’t think that many americans even knew Gone With the Wind was a book.”
My final thought was, “who else wants to smack Grammar Counts?”
Saying the Bible is one’s favorite read is like the time GWBush said Jesus was his favorite philosopher. You just know they’re bullshitting you.
And Grammar Counts needs to get a life.