TRC

As I have mentioned previously (24), the American Time Use Survey is an exhaustive survey of what people report doing at all times of the day. But it’s just that. A self-reported account of what people are doing. Another complimentary perspective is provided by the Twitter data analyzed by some researchers that shows the mood of the nation as measured by the sentiments expressed by tweets at all times of the day.

While each of these provide different views of what people are thinking, feeling and doing, this kind of information does not have to be purely descriptive. It can be used to get some deeper insights too. Nate Silver at 538.com has used the American Time Use Survey data rather cleverly to calculate the proportion of people who cannot take a poll from the well known pollster Rasmussen. Silver argues that by looking at ATUS data we can conclude that between two-thirds to four-fifths of the population will be physically unable to answer American a regular Rasmussen survey. Scroll down the link and read the post in full (Is a poll scientific...) to get at everything he says.