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Nazi extermination of the Jews


Keywords:
Holocaust; Nazi; Jews
Description:
Two ways of eliciting the same information give different results. The implication is that the surveyors were trying to the the correct thing, but after realizing the original question was confusing, subsequently changed it.
Information:

The original question, asked in 1993, was

Does it seem possible or does it seem impossible to you that the Nazi extremination of the Jews never happened?
22% reported that it was possible the extermination never happened, and 12% didn't know.

The following year, the question was changed to

Does it seems possible to you that the Nazi extermination of the Jews never happened or do you feel certain that it happened?
Now, 1% reported that it was possible the extermination never happened, and just 8% didn't know.

Source:
Gelman, Andrew and Nolan, Deborah (2002). Teaching statistics: a bag of tricks, Oxford University Press.
Notes:
References:
Gelman and Nolan state the report coming from:
Poll finds 1 out of 3 Americans open to doubt there was a holocaust, Los Angeles Times, April 20, 1993. There is no citation for the follow-up survey.