Day: August 19, 2010

On polls, Elvis Presley, and the Elvis Presley Margin

Back in 2002, when CBS ran this story, 7% of Americans still believed Elvis was alive, despite his death 25 years earlier. (“The King’s” Popularity Constant – CBS News).

This has led me to conclude that for any poll, there will be a margin of people — the Elvis Presley margin — who will agree with anything (or disagree with anything) that the pollster asks.

I thought of this because of 18% of Americans believe President Obama is a Muslim, despite everything that says he is a Christian. 18% is well above the Elvis Presley margin, which leads me to believe that there are people who should know better that still think this. Interesting.