Levi! I'm beginning to think that you work for IBM as well!
Now you've discovered why it is best to use seven possible responses in a continuous categorical variable rather than five. The fact that several individuals found wiggle room "between" your categories means that you didn't provide enough categories to accurately describe gameplay. The fault therefore lay partially with your survey design. In reality, with such a low number of people responding, you should be happy to include as many responses as possible; perhaps you could have asked for clarifications before closing the polls.
You might have a point if we were discussing something of importance. Look Levi, I've said all along - it was not designed as a scientific poll! A simple straw poll/wet finger in the wind - is all. The results are of no real importance. That's why I didn't spend hours designing the poll. I did not call in a firm of statisticians to help me conduct it. Just a simple query begging a simple answer. And most people (about 90%) understood perfectly! If the results are so important to you, and the method by which they are arrived at is so important to you, why don't you do your own poll?
There were two 2/3 (2.5) votes, not one. As such, they would not deviate the same amount. The mean for one 2.5 response and one 3.5 response is 3.0; for two 2.5 responses and one 3.5 response it is ~2.8.
I wasn't talking about those 2/3 votes. In addition to those 2/3 votes you mentioned, someone voted 2.5, and someone else voted 3.5. Those votes cancel eachother out with regard to having any bearing on the mean average.
True, a majority of the players spent less than half of their time at furball island. However, your claims that "a lot" of players never flew there are incorrect or at least overstated. By the same token, anybody who claims that the 16.7% who flew there more than 50% of the time is "a lot" are also incorrect.
OK, let's put it another way. Out of the five possible valid responses, only one (#5) signifies that the voter spent no time at all at furball central. It just so happens that #5 drew more votes than any other valid answer, ie 8 out of 26 counted.
However, you can't keep claiming that you recognize that these results mean nothing while constantly pointing to them as proving something to Slapshot or Mars. If you're going to pretend like these results mean something, then use them correctly.
What are you talking about? I don't keep "constantly pointing" to these results. I said "As for where folks would prefer to fly, I did a poll on the OZK map. A lot of those who answered said they remained in the outer area and NEVER entered the furball melee. So it seems I'm not entirely alone." and I said it only once. Get it? The only conclusion I drew, and commented on only once was that "I'm not entirely alone" with regard to MA environment preference. But here you come with your standard deviation analysis, correcting me by 0.09 - what's the big deal?
Sax - yes, I do not work for IBM. Most people don't. But after I had worked for them at a client site in 1992-94, they invited me to join two further projects - 1994-95, and 1996. I think that speaks for itself.
And I didn't insult Slap. Just a bit of banter is all.
Lazs - don't worry - the whole thrust of what Levi is saying is based on a couple of 2/3 votes, nothing more. And STILL the answer that drew the most responses was #5. And not even Levi can change that.
