Words have meaning...

To quote the most astute Rush Limbaugh... but yes, words do have meaning.  People in general have gotten lazy about this, and nowhere is this more evident than in the main stream media. The very people that should know better!

Take for example the use of 'study' versus 'survey'.  I have noticed for a long time that so called journalists and television anchors tend to use these words interchangably, often in the same sentence. 

To be termed scientific study, a method of inquiry must be based on gathering observable, empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning. A scientific method consists of the collection of data through observation and experimentation, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses.

A survey on the other hand involves administering questions to individuals. They depend on subjects’ motivation, honesty, memory, and ability to respond. Subjects may not be aware of their reasons for any given action. They may have forgotten their reasons. They may not be motivated to give accurate answers; in fact, they may be motivated to give answers that present themselves in a favorable light. Structured surveys, particularly those with closed ended questions, may have low validity when researching affective variables. Survey question answer-choices could lead to vague data sets because at times they are relative only to a personal abstract notion concerning "strength of choice". For example, the choice "moderately agree" may mean different things to different subjects, and to anyone interpreting the data for correlation. Even yes or no answers are problematic because subjects may for instance put "no" if the choice "only once" is not available.

One of the most infamous "surveys" often cited as a scientific study is the one by the CDC (Center for Disease Control) on dog bite statistics.  Most often used by those in the Animal Rights crowd and politicians with no clue about dogs in general to ban a breed. In spite of the CDC itself warning that this 'survey' is NOT scientific it is continually cited as such.

So the next time you hear the news report talking about some 'survey' or another that shows this or that must be changed bear this in mind.  Listen a tad more closely to those reports. If something is reported as a 'survey' remember to be sceptical.