Gallup News Service conducted a survey of 1,006 American adults aged 18 years or older, September 24-27, 2007. The respondents were asked, “What, if anything, worries you most about your personal financial situation in he long term? ‘Of the 1,006 adults surveyed , 18% said they were most worried about having enough money for retirement (Ironically, not having enough money for retirement was not a short-term concern) Gallup reported that 18% of all adult Americans were most worried about not having enough money for retirement with a 4% margin of error with 95% confidence.
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To understand how Gallup News Service conducted this survey and arrived at their findings, let's break down the key elements:
1. Sample Size: The survey interviewed 1,006 American adults aged 18 years or older. This number represents the sample size, which is the group of individuals being surveyed in order to draw conclusions about the larger population.
2. Timeframe: The survey was conducted from September 24-27, 2007. This indicates the specific period during which the interviews were conducted.
3. Question Asked: The respondents were asked, "What, if anything, worries you most about your personal financial situation in the long term?" This question aimed to gather information about the concerns people had regarding their financial situation in the future.
4. Response of Interest: From the respondents, 18% stated that their greatest worry was not having enough money for retirement. This percentage represents the portion of the sample population that gave this specific response.
5. Margin of Error: Gallup reported a margin of error of 4% with a 95% confidence level. This indicates the degree of uncertainty associated with the survey results. In this case, it means that if the survey was conducted multiple times using different samples, the results would likely be within 4 percentage points of the reported figure (18%).
Overall, Gallup used a sample of 1,006 adults to estimate that 18% of all adult Americans were most worried about not having enough money for retirement. They expressed a degree of uncertainty (margin of error) of 4% with 95% confidence level, which suggests a reliable estimate for the population as a whole.