The Real World Has Spoken
YouGov talks to the British public. Plus, where Palace Communications needs an overhaul
Hello Dear Readers,
How’s everyone doing today? Ready to dig into some analysis? This newsletter is going to jump from topic to topic a bit. I’m finishing off this newsletter before I hop on a flight for a well-deserved mini-vacation with my family. So today’s analysis will be a bit stream of consciousness if you will!
We’re going to talk about the most recent poll done on Catherine, the Princess of Wales. We’re going to talk about why even though I think internet furor is assigned too much power, Palace communications could’ve done better to handle it. And bonus: Why the response to Page Six from sources close to the Sussexes is amusing. I hope you enjoy this post.
YouGov Poll
If there’s something all of the newly hired PR experts on social media could come to a consensus on when this all began earlier last month, it was how the Kensington Palace Communications team had somehow bungled the rollout of the news of the Princess’s operation and hospitalization. Keeping people “in the dark” and “not being more forth-coming about her diagnosis and treatment” is what caused all of this hullabaloo. Due to the lack of information, social media had no choice but to invent wild conspiracy theories like this odious exchange below.
Enter YouGov’s polling taken and released yesterday which surveilled nearly 3,500 people in Britain, more than double their usual sample size, on March 11, 2023. They asked the burning question that’s been on my mind since all this began:
“Thinking about the information that has been released to the public about the Princess’s health, do you think the Royal Family have announced too much detail, too little, or have got the balance about right?”
Dear Readers, the answer will shock you.
Nearly half (49%) of individuals polled believed the information released to the public about her health (the initial press release as well the followup statement when she arrived home) was just right. Only 20% of individuals polled felt that not enough information was released. Intriguingly, 6% of individuals polled believed that too much information was released about her health struggles. Any mathematician worth their salt will tell you that a poll is only as good as its sample variance. So let’s take a look at what happens when you break that down.
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