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46 Percent of Americans Believe in Ghosts

dann

Penultimate Amazing
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... up 400 percent over the last four decades

Do you believe in ghosts? Turns out a lot of people do in this country … more than 45% of us. That's up almost 400% in the last 40 years! So what happened?
What statistics can tell us about Americans' skyrocketing belief in ghosts (CNN, Sep 21, 2021)
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Margins of Error Podcast: How The Paranormal Became, Well, Pretty Normal (CNN, Sep 21, 2021)


Pfizer’s Booster Gets Approved & 46% of Americans Think Ghosts Exist (The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Sep 24, 2021 - beginning at 2:02)
 
Whenever I see a poll result like this, I feel like we need to take a hard look at how the survey is constructed and whether the results are being interpreted correctly.

When my wife was in grad school, I read a published journal study that concluded that cigarettes were more addictive than heroin. The conclusion was based on higher relapse rates for smokers as opposed to junkies. Seemed to me that despite the proper peer review, the commonsense understanding that cigarettes had virtually no social stigma or consequences, were perfectly legal, and not significantly consciousness-altering was factored in at all.

For example: if this was an online survey titled "Do you Believe in Ghosts?", more respondents who were ghostie believers might respond than a more random sampling. If an online survey was put up around Halloween, casual respondents might playfully be taking the proverbial piss.
 
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Ten bucks says that 46% is a concatenation of several different questions and answers, and is almost entirely made up of various forms of "well, I don't rule them out."
 
The article claims that "many believers see ghosts as a friendly reminder of friends who have left us." Maybe a looser interpretatuon of the nature of 'ghosts' than a reader would assume?
 
The actual poll results (in a very summarized form) from the poll taker are here:

https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/news-polls/halloween-2019

Almost half of Americans believe that ghosts are real (46%), and a third believe that aliens visit earth (32%), while only a small amount believe in vampires (7%) and zombies (6%).
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For details on how the poll was taken read the website at the url.

You may adjust your speculations as you see fit. :w2:
 
So that's what happened to my sweet roll this morning. It all makes sense now. Hungry damn ghost.
 
Gord_in_Toronto said:
The actual poll results (in a very summarized form) from the poll taker are here:

https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/news-polls/halloween-2019



For details on how the poll was taken read the website at the url.

You may adjust your speculations as you see fit. : w2 :
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Enh. My speculation is that it's more about hating America than about saying anything interesting or useful. Not sure that needs much adjustment, but I'm always open to new data.
 
Got as far as the survey being 1000 respondents, and indeed run a few days before Halloween 2019. Will be interested to see the context and structure of the questions later.
 
The USA is a very religious country. Why wouldn't Christians believe in ghosts?
 
Gord_in_Toronto said:
The actual poll results (in a very summarized form) from the poll taker are here:

https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/news-polls/halloween-2019



For details on how the poll was taken read the website at the url.

You may adjust your speculations as you see fit. :w2:
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I don't see anything about the questoons on the site. It does say that in a similar poll in 2008, also just before Halloween, 57% of Americans the small polled segment believed in ghosts. Wonder why they framed it like belief is on the rise, when their own data says it has declined?
 
Not surprising given the high religiosity of the US.

Given that belief in the Holy Ghost is a given if you are are Christian. No great leap of faith to throw a few more in.
 
40% isn't the odd thing. 400% increase in 40 years is.

The US, like Europe, has seen a steady drop in religiousity.


You would need to ask the exact same questions, which pollsters will do just to draw such a conclusion.
 
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Thermal said:
Got as far as the survey being 1000 respondents, and indeed run a few days before Halloween 2019. Will be interested to see the context and structure of the questions later.
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1000 isn’t really a problem as that is a fairly standard sized sample. The problem is whether or not you have a representative sample. The methods of collection as well as the questions themselves could skew the results. If you are not using landlines or contacting people in certain demographics you may end up with an older or otherwise more religious/supernaturally inclined sample.
 
Would anyone really be shocked at 46%? I would be shocked if it were ever 10% or less. Bogus survey conclusion.
 
Some more data.

The Paranormal Profiles: New Study Probes Into People Who Believe in Ghosts

https://www.prweb.com/releases/the_...eople_who_believe_in_ghosts/prweb16643035.htm

You can "test" your paranormal beliefs here: https://www.queendom.com/tests/access_page/index.htm

(I scored 4.)
Always the skeptic, practicality and common sense are your weapons of choice when fighting against any supernatural spook or green alien.
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:j1:

If you don't want to take this test, the Security Guard Test on the same page might be for you. (I did not take it.)
 
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