PJ Media

I would have two questions. First, what was the response rate? The second publication gives no indication of the response rate, and yet the first article seems to suggest that the response rate was nearly 100%. That’s absolutely incredible, seeing as it exceeds census bureau response rates during peace time in developed countries(which are mandatory, by law), and far exceeds the response rates of optional surveys. Second, what was the introductory question? We don’t get any idea from the article. Presumably, it didn’t involve a discussion of deaths since the invasion, but why isn’t it included? For example, if the interviewers introduce themselves by saying: “we are looking at casualties since the war began,” then it is higly likley that those households without any deaths would simply refuse the interview. In much the same way, for example, as if a survey of computer use came to a house that did not own a computer. The result of such systematic error would be a drastic inflation of the death toll. Third, doesn’t the professor’s own comments suggest that there may be problems with comparing the death rate pre-invasion to the death-rate post-invasion? What is the age structure of Iraq’s population now compared to what it was in the period prior to the invasion? Finally, what checks have the done to ensure the representativeness of their sample? This is especially important when the sample is not, for understandable reasons in this case, random…