Fun with Statistics: 26% of Mobile Workers to Get an iPad

[Michael Knutson]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/08/25/survey_shows_26_of_mobile_workers_plan_to_get_an_ipad.html' target='_blank'>http://www.appleinsider.com/article...et_an_ipad.html</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"Over a quarter of mobile employees plan to purchase or receive an iPad in the next 6 months, according to a new survey."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/at/auto/1282788835.usr17748.jpg" /></p><p><p>Gotta love it when the press reports on blanket statements like this, based on an iPass survey of a whopping "over 1,100" mobile enterprise employees from North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. Out of how many hundred million? In a related statement tucked-away in the small print, Citrix stated that "80% of its business users have plans to purchase and use an iPad for business." This to me is a more telling statement, despite not mentioning how many users were queried. So what is this all really saying? The iPad is getting a serious look inside enterprises and by remote workers. Please Microsoft, may we have a version of MS Office for iPad!?</p></p>

[Brad Adrian]

As somebody who has dedicated his entire 18-year career to statistics, I'm just ecstatic to see somebody besides ME using the words "fun" and "statistics" in the same sentence!

Just remember...

Old statisticians never die. They just deviate farther and farther from normal.

[Brad Adrian]

And Michael, you make some excellent points in your writing about both research methods and reporting techniques. In fact, whenever talking to consumers about their "purchase intent," it's always assumed that those responses are WAY over-estimated. Even with more mundane purchases, like TVs, phones or grocery items, it's nearly always assumed that no more than one in three people who say they WILL purchase something actually ends up doing so.

So, good catch and a healthy dose of skepticism.