New Survey Says Fewer Families with at Least One Firearm in the Family

[TerryMiller]

I ran across this story at the Huffington Post/AOL news site. I have to wonder if the decline that they claim has occurred is really because fewer families have them, or whether more families aren't being honest on the survey. That is, of course, provided that their survey wasn't skewed by who was surveyed and where.

Major Survey Shows Gun Ownership Declining

 

[Dave70968]

I'm sure OSA is doing its best to keep the average up.

 

[TwoForFlinching]

I don't own any guns... sold em after Newtown officer

 

[rickm]

Depends on what part of the country and whether they only done it in large cities or in the rural areas i dont trust surveys cause they never say where they got their info from since i have never been asked anything for a survey i beleive they pick and choose where and who they ask.

 

[Okey-Dokey]

Leftist rags will be leftist. So will their "polls." Same goes for the right. Very little information you see on your shiny screens has much validity anymore. It's all propaganda. But hey, if you like, use this as a great excuse to buy another gun and take a non-gun owning friend to the range.

 

[Defnestor]

"Survey shows boating accidents are on the rise."

 

[CHenry]

The HP isnt known for its truth in reporting. Quite the opposite.

 

[donner]

It's a pretty well known survey with a long history. Probably wouldn't be too difficult to find out how the respondents were picked. Since the survey itself includes more than just gun questions, I'm inclined to believe them until I can prove a fault to their methods.

Also in the article was the following, which shows a very significant sample size.

"The General Social Survey is administered by NORC at the University of Chicago, primarily using in-person interviewing. The GSS started in 1972 and completed its 30th round in 2014. The typical sample size was 1,500 prior to 1994, but increased to 2,700-3,000 until 2008, and decreased to 2,000 for the most recent surveys. Resulting margins of error are between plus or minus 3.1 percentage points for the smaller sample sizes and plus or minus 2.2 percentage points for the larger sample sizes at the 95 percent confidence level. The 2014 survey was conducted March 31-Oct. 11, 2014, among 2,538 American adults. The GSS 1972-2014 Cumulative File was used to produce the statistics presented."

 

[TedKennedy]

The HP isnt known for its truth in reporting. Quite the opposite.

Bill O'Reilly confirmed the survey.

 

[donner]

So, i just discussed how the GSS conducts the survey with my wife (who has used GSS data for her research in the past). I wont go into great detail about it, but basically it's a national survey. It breaks down the country into numbered blocks (typically using census blocks). Then, selected at random, they pick different blocks to breakdown further. Then selections within those blocks are then selected at random until they settle on random individuals to contact.

The survey methods are available on the GSS website if you really want to delve into the statistical methods.