A friend of mine came across a report that was about young adults financial struggles called “Young People: Living on the Edge.” So he asked me to respond to the study, saying that it would be a nice piece for TMM. And I concurred.
First off, let me say that the lead for the actual report came from a fellow blogger, Ms. Emily Gerson who was making a guest post on the Free Money Finance blog. She wrote a passionate piece about the surveys findings and included her own experience and opinions on the situation. However, after a little research of my own, I would like to argue the situation another way.
The report has a few valid points and certainly has stated the obvious; in so many words, they explained that young adults are under financial stress and that the current economic situation does not make it any better. However, I believe that this report could have been done much better.
As we all know, some survey results that we hear or read about should not be taken very seriously because they were poorly done. More often than not, the researchers skew the data to the answer that they are looking for and blow the results out of proportion. So I approached this report with that idea in mind.
For anyone who has ever taken a statistics class, you would know that conducting research is a fickle thing, especially when you are using surveys. Your results are only as good as your data. So if your “random sample” is not random enough, if your sample size is not large enough, or if the focus group is not targeted enough, then your data will lead to inconclusive or statistically insignificant results.
I believe that this is the case with the report “Young People: Living on the Edge.” While they had good intentions, I think that they became misled in their motivation to do the survey. Qvisory is a young activist group, so-to-speak. And they actually have a nice website set up with good advice for readers in their twenties. I would suggest scanning over a couple pages if you like that sort of thing.
Anyhow, Qvisory set out to help young people, politically, by doing this study and presenting it to other important political groups in Washington, D.C. and online. However, in their endeavor they may have inadvertently allowed for a few things to slip through the cracks of the research filter.
With that said, I shall point out what are, in my opinion, their faults in the study. I noticed that the reports conclusions were drawn on a broadly defined focus group. To say that a “young adult” is from 19 to 35 is odd and has the potential to skew data. This does not mean that a 35-year old is not young. It’s just a point to consider because someone who is in their early thirties will be going through different things in their life and they have a different lifestyle than someone in their twenties.
Duly noted is that their methodology memo explains that there were parts of the data that they “weighed,” or in other words, that they adjusted. Adjustments are subjective and give wiggle room to skew data, thus they should be avoided. But interestingly enough, the methodology also included wording in which they recommended that their internet survey data should be “considered with limitations in mind” because of the nature of the sampling method can compromise the data. So basically, they were saying to rely on the data at your own risk - a disclaimer.
So the point is, I am not saying that I don’t agree with some of the statements made in the report. In actuality, I agree that young adults across the nation are feeling the pinch. And I don’t need the survey to know that the current economic situation is not making it any easier. But, I don’t think that this is the survey to prove it.
~K
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