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The stories are misleading about the report. Here's a link to the actual report: https://www.rwjf.org/content/dam/farm/reports/surveys_and_polls/2019/rwjf45874
by _qulr 6y ago
The stories are misleading about the report.
Here's a link to the actual report: https://www.rwjf.org/content/dam/farm/reports/surveys_and_polls/2019/rwjf458749 https://www.rwjf.org/content/dam/farm/reports/surveys_and_po...
Some questions from the survey:
Q10. Do you think income differences between the rich and the poor in the U.S. today are a very serious problem, somewhat serious problem, not too serious problem, or not a problem at all?
Very serious problem 43%
Somewhat serious problem 28%
Not too serious problem 13%
Not a problem at all 15%
Q11. Do you think income differences between the rich and the middle class in the U.S. today are a very serious problem, somewhat serious problem, not too serious problem, or not a problem at all?
Very serious problem 35%
Somewhat serious problem 29%
Not too serious problem 17%
Not a problem at all 17%
The headline is pretty much the exact opposite of what the survey says, which is that the majority feel these are serious problems.
I do think the study authors deserve some blame here. Inexplicably, they chose to frame the results in this way: "fewer than half of adults across all income categories say they think income differences between the rich and the poor or between the rich and the middle-class are very serious problems in the U.S. today." The focus exclusively on "very serious problem" ignores their own categories, which also include "somewhat serious problem". When only 15% believe it's not a problem at all, why would you focus just on one narrowly worded category? Fully 85% percent admit it's a problem. That's a far cry from "don't care".
- snarf21 6y agoNice recap. I'd assume the answer to your question lies in the sponsors of this study and the continued funding of the authors' future work.
- dataflow 6y agoI also don't get the obsession with income, it's wealth that matters. People might simply say think massive income inequality isn't a problem because instead they think massive wealth inequality is the real problem.
- tabtab 6y agoTypically the problem is called "income equality". If it used "wealth inequality", it may confuse some. There's often a tradeoff between accuracy and brevity and/or clarity when writing surveys.
- sokoloff 6y agoWhether a majority agree it’s a serious problem depends on whether you think “somewhat serious” is “serious” or not. If I answer there are “somewhat serious” problems, you can’t just round that up to “serious” because that word is present. If the categories were “serious, moderate, mild, and not a problem”, which I’d argue are semantically equivalent to the survey categories, then it’s clearly an error for the headline to be written as “majority agree income inequality is a serious problem.”
- _qulr 6y ago> If the categories were “serious, moderate, mild, and not a problem”, which I’d argue are semantically equivalent to the survey categories I don't think changing the wording would help. The basic problem is that these terms are all vague. What we really need is a comparison and/or ranking with other problems. Clearly, though, under any definition, "don't care" is flat out wrong.