NZers and Rugby World Cup
Stuff reports:
A “high number” of Kiwis are turned-off by our national sport but are too afraid to voice their opinion, according to an Auckland professor.
Auckland university associate professor Toni Bruce has been researching people’s attitudes towards the Rugby World Cup, based on similar surveys conducted during 2007 and 2011 tournaments.
The sport sociologist says a “silent majority” of New Zealanders are so far not enamoured with the tournament, having received responses from 232 people. The age of participants ranged from 20 to 80, with an almost spread between categories.
A survey of 232 people is very small. It has a 6.5% margin of error if it is a random sample.
Bruce said there are limitations to the survey, despite it receiving a “range of responses”. For example, those who are not interested in rugby are more likely to submit because they feel it’s a “safe place” to share their opposition. The gender difference is also weighted more towards women.
Sounds like it was a self-selecting survey, which is basically worthless.
UMR did a scientific poll in 2011 about what news stories people followed. 83% of NZers said they closely followed the story of the All Blacks winning the Rugby World Cup.
It seems to have been fashionable for some to declare they don’t like rugby and don’t care about the world cup. And of course not all sports appeal to everyone, but as I say it seems to be fashionable in some circles to declare your lack of interest.
I don’t follow hockey closely. But if the Black Sticks are in with a chance to win the world cup, I start following them more closely and will watch them play. I follow the Silver Ferns closely and watch their games when I can. It is not a choice of supporting rugby or other sports – you can do both.
UPDATE: The survey is here, and is obviously a self-selecting survey. This means any quantitative data (ie more people are turned off rugby) is pretty useless, even though there can be useful qualitative data (why some people are turned off)