Smirk-Worthy Surveys

I've become jaded to surveys. Besides the ludicrous Sweatiest Cities rankings (ed. note: cities don't sweat, people sweat) that came out the other day, now we've got the following report saying those born in winter suffer sleep disorders.

From the People's Daily Online:

Fan Dongsheng, director of a just-founded "sleeping center" under the Chinese Medical Association (CMA) in Beijing, has sampled over 700 clinical cases collected in his personal medical practice to reach the conclusion.

According to Fan's survey, around 40 percent of the sampled patients were born in November, December and January, the coldest period in China, while those born in spring, summer and autumn only account for around 20 percent respectively.

The expert held that fetuses were probably more vulnerable to external disturbances before being delivered in winter and their pre-natal experiences tended to exert certain negative impact on their future sleeping habits.

It is estimated that sleeping disorders are tormenting some 100 million Chinese, but only one million of the sufferers have resorted to professional treatment, which is still a fledging service in the country.

So, Fan Dongsheng samples 700 people out of a population in excess of one billion to come up with his conclusions. That equates to one person for every 1.4 million in the population. Consequently, I could poll one person in Phoenix, Arizona, (est. pop. 2003 - 1,388,416) and extrapolate his/her answers to make conclusions about the entire citizenry of the city. And, I guarantee that I could find at least one person in Phoenix who believes that Elvis is alive.

In summary, Dongsheng's survey, the sweatiest cities dumbness, and many others that are reported unquestioned by the media produce only one predictable result. My smirks.