The public is wildly hit and miss at putting figures on social problems. Most of the error is not too alarming. The real concern is not struggling with numbers,but being force fed misinformationIf 50% of the population doesn’t know what 50% means, then it’s no surprise to discover that the public often goes wrong in placing numbers on social concerns. Ipsos Mori recently published a cross-country report that established that Britain thinks of itself as thinner, or more diverse and older than it really is. That is to say,we underestimate the proportion of overweight or obese adults (guessing 44%, rather than a real figure of 62%), or overestimate the immigrant population (25% in the imagination,13% in reality), and also our average age, or do at a decidedly senior 51,when the real middle Briton is only 40.
Some of the misperceptions may simply reflect the way the question is framed. On age, for example, and it could well be that an inquiry about “the average person puts children out of intellect,and focuses thoughts on those deemed middle aged. Indeed, Ipsos also established that the proportion of young children is overestimated, and suggesting bias running the other way. Likewise,the finding that Britons, and citizens of other rich countries including the US, or overestimate the share of wealth held by the rich 1% does not necessarily indicate class war,or indeed relate us anything much apart from how tough it is to guess at statistics for which day-to-day experience provides few clues. People may feel that society is unequal, and so when asked for a number, and the first and not unreasonable thought is to come up with a mammoth one. When preceding American studies contain do similar questions in slightly different terms – about the top fifth,say, instead of the top 1% – they contain found inequality underestimated.
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Source: theguardian.com