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A survey and an editorial disagree: can their numbers share a sentence?

Edited by Chris Lee · Updated · About the library

Read a French survey and editorial with different populations and dates, then combine their claims without averaging incompatible percentages.

In short

Keep each percentage with its population, date and source. Two figures can share a comparison sentence without being averaged. Here, employees at one association and subscribers to another publication are different groups answering different questions.

Two differently sized illustrated groups sit in separate circles beneath blank calendar icons.
Keep each surveyed group separate; the dossier supplies the actual sample sizes, periods and results. Illustration: Atelier

The dossier below contains a staff survey and an editorial based on a reader poll. The editor argues for remote access to meetings. The survey records one group’s use of remote work. Read the denominator—the group counted—before deciding what can be compared.

Dossier · travail et réunions à distance

Source A · enquête interne · janvier

Population100 salariés de l’association Atelier Nord.

QuestionAvez-vous travaillé à distance au moins un jour la semaine dernière ?

Résultat40 % ont répondu oui.

Source B · éditorial · mars

Population du sondage cité200 abonnés ayant choisi de répondre au questionnaire du journal.

QuestionSouhaitez-vous pouvoir suivre les réunions publiques à distance ?

Résultat70 % ont répondu oui.

PositionL’éditorial défend le maintien d’un accès à distance aux réunions.

Different measures can coexist

Source A measures reported work practice among named employees in January. Source B reports a preference among self-selected responding subscribers in March. The figures differ in population, question and date. A joint sentence should preserve these distinctions rather than invent a single percentage for “people who want remote work”.

Question 1No account needed
Which sentence preserves both measures?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

En janvier, 40 % des salariés ont déclaré avoir télétravaillé au moins un jour la semaine précédente ; en mars, 70 % des abonnés répondants souhaitaient suivre les réunions à distance.. The first retains both populations, dates and measured actions.

Question 2No account needed
Why is taking the simple average misleading?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

The groups and questions differ, so the result would not describe one defined measure.. Arithmetic alone cannot turn different questions and populations into a coherent shared statistic.

Question 3No account needed
What does the editorial add beyond its poll number?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

An argued position on remote meeting access. The editorial uses the poll in support of a policy position, which should be attributed as such.

Les sources portent sur deux usages distincts de la distance : une pratique de travail dans l’enquête et une préférence d’accès aux réunions dans l’éditorial.

The sources concern two different uses of remote access: a work practice in the survey and a meeting-access preference in the editorial.

A synthesis can compare the broader theme while refusing a false numerical merger. State the relationship at the right level—different uses of distance—then keep the figures bounded by their actual survey conditions.

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