I wore green this Tuesday, so did 82% of other Americans. I had a corned beef dinner at home last night, 33% of other Americans had some type of Irish meal at home last night. I am not of Irish descent, nor are 88% of other Americans. Still, many of us celebrated St. Patrick’s Day. It fact, Americans were expected to spend $3.3 billion on St. Patrick’s Day related purchases and activities this year. Cinco De Mayo is growing to also be a major day of celebration in the U.S. Celebration and expenditures on these holidays pales compared to the big holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s.
So what happens if I take a survey on St. Patrick’s Day, or on Cinco De Mayo? Will my answers be biased in any way? We only buy and cook corned beef once a year. What if I had been asked to complete a survey on recent meat purchases? Cabbage, potato and Irish beer consumption also indexed high this week. While the foods of St. Patrick’s Day probably don’t see a lot of research (except beer), the foods of Cinco De Mayo see a lot more research. Think salsa, guacamole, tortillas, and beer (again).
If we tried to avoid all holidays, there would be very few weeks that we could do surveys. So that is impossible. Naturally we do avoid the big holidays. Other then that, you have to use some common sense. Ask yourself if the results could have had any holiday bias. Guinness may or may not want to complete surveys near St. Patrick’s Day – depending on their objectives.
Have you experienced any survey bias associated with holidays?
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