[phpesp-general] Results and percentages

[Michael G. <mi...@bi...>]

Hi everyone.
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My apologies if this topic has been discussed already...I wasn't able to
find anything specifically regarding this topic in the list archives.
This is also my first post...hello everyone.
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My question is regarding results and percentages.  It seems to me that
some results presented can be misleading.  Take a simple question about
gender, for example.  This question is optional, so not everyone may
answer:
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5. Gender:
Male    48.0%  (84)
Female    50.3%  (88)
TOTAL    98.3%  175
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A casual user would most likely conclude that 48% of the people who took
the survey are male and 50.3% are female. In reality, 48% are male,
50.3% are female, and 1.7% did not answer the question.  I have had
several users make this mistake.  Furthermore, the "TOTAL" of 175 may be
confusing to some because it is not the sume of 84 and 88.  It seems
that one of the following two options might make more sense:
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A)
5. Gender:
Male    48.0%  (84)
Female    50.3%  (88)
No response    1.7%    (3)
TOTAL    100%  175
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OR
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B)
5. Gender:
Male    48.8%  (84)
Female    51.2%  (88)
TOTAL    100%  172
3 survey respondents (1.7%) did not answer this question and 98.3% did
answer the question
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I am in favor of option B.  Any thoughts on this?
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Thanks very much,
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Michael
Chicago, IL