RE: Palestinians Who Prefer Israel

Submitted by Marc Weintraub (United States), Jan 1, 2008 at 18:30

"How to lie with Statistics" was the title of a required textbook in one of my business management classes in college. It made very important points that seem to be overlooked in the studies cited in this article. There are a couple apparent weaknesses in the studies that anyone having read that book would readily see:

1) Context matters

The question posed was whether or not Arabs living in Israel would prefer to be citizens of Israel or the PA. That question was too simplistic because it did not take into consideration WHY the choice would be made.

Motivations such as the 4 cited in the article are reasonable and believable, but are they the primary reasons? What about the goal of perpetuating the myth that Israel is not a a Jewish state? The demographics of the nation are considerably different with Palestinian Arabs living in Israel than without them. The motivation to be Israeli citizens could be very strongly political.

2) Sample Size matters

A sample of 10 will not provide results as significant as a sample of 100 or 1000 or 10000. What size was the sample in each study cited? Are the results statistically significant?

I think it is not insignificant to see the results shown. They clearly demonstrate the unity of purpose the PA and Hamas would have us believe is perpetually present in their ranks is false. My concern is over the reality of the depth of discontent those results suggest. Are the numbers realistic? Whether or not they are, what can we do to encourage they continue in a positive direction?

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