Summary
1. When it comes to a lot of these surveys, there is often a feeling in one’s gut that a conclusion is just way off the mark. 2. The idea that people apparently shell out several thousand dollars in a tight economy for these studies defies belief. 3. At least have a tiny bit of humility and state that over 65 million people are engaging in this activity.
Analysis
Once again, there is mind-boggling extrapolation occurring in these surveys. How this type of data is thrown out to the world without a sense of embarrassment on the part of the market research firm is hard to figure out.
First of all, the demographic most likely to use a computer while watching television has to be people 25 years of age and under. One might suspect that this segment is underrepresented because they would likely have less interest in responding to surveys – and it is probably questionable whether this group was even sufficiently targeted. So that leaves the rest of the population “report[ing] that they are sometimes using a personal computer simultaneously while watching TV.” How much is sometimes? And how can one definitely conclude that there is widespread multitasking going on based on this sort of limited response? And how can there be the assumption that they necessarily tend to be consistently involved in more than one activity just because two devices happen to be on at the same time?
