Has the CCPC any clue about pensions?

I have written a letter to the Editor.

Dear Editor

Despite the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission's report, there was no sharp fall in the number in the 40s-50s group who have a private pension. ( Sharp fall in private pensions for 40s-50s group.)

This sort of nonsense should not be reproduced in the paper of record, much less, in a front page headline.

There were 136 people in the 45-54 age cohort surveyed by the CCPC and no meaningful conclusion can be drawn from such a tiny sample.

If the CCPC had any understanding at all of pensions, they would have known that there could not be a 25% drop in the number of people who have pensions. The only way to no longer have a pension is to retire and 25% of people between the ages of 45-54 did not retire in the past year.

The only conclusions which can be drawn from this survey is that the CCPC knows nothing about pensions or statistics.

Brendan Burgess

Brendan Burgess said:

I have written a letter to the Editor.

Dear Editor

Despite the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission's report, there was no sharp fall in the number in the 40s-50s group who have a private pension. ( Sharp fall in private pensions for 40s-50s group.)

This sort of nonsense should not be reproduced in the paper of record, much less, in a front page headline.

There were 136 people in the 45-54 age cohort surveyed by the CCPC and no meaningful conclusion can be drawn from such a tiny sample.

If the CCPC had any understanding at all of pensions, they would have known that there could not be a 25% drop in the number of people who have pensions. The only way to no longer have a pension is to retire and 25% of people between the ages of 45-54 did not retire in the past year.

The only conclusions which can be drawn from this survey is that the CCPC knows nothing about pensions or statistics.

Brendan Burgess

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I'd give you three 'Likes' for that if I could, Brendan!

ClubMan said:

I honestly cannot see how any useful conclusions can be drawn from a sample size of 757 when the target population is 2.5M. That's only marginally better than going down the pub and asking a few punters.

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Sample size is not the issue. It's the sampling methodology. Depending on the confidence levels/margin of errors you're willing to accept, a sample size of 757 can be representative of the required population.

But if the respondents are not selected appropriately then the research is of little value. Twitter polls, Joe Duffy's Liveline Polls etc all make great noise about how big their sample is - while ignoring the fact that all their respondents are likely of similar opinions. Otherwise they wouldn't be following them on Twitter or listening to them on the radio!