Yesterday something strange happened right in front of our eyes.
Thomson Reuters, a data & research company awarded India as the most dangerous country for women in the world.
The problem is that the survey is questionable.
Thomson Reuters prides itself in using data, human expertise and technology to provide the world with anwers to questions we didn’t know we needed answers to (not making fun of them in anyway, see screenshot below)
The only problem with their recent survey is that it’s based only on ‘human expertise’ of 548 individuals.
The report is based on the opinions of 548 undisclosed ‘experts’. They conducted an ’email and telephonic’ poll that asked 7 questions to these ‘experts’ on how they perceive countries with respect to women’s health care, sexual violence, non-sexual violence, discrimination, cultural practices & human trafficking.
In response to our query – Reuters says -‘this was a perception poll based on experts’ opinions, not on data.’ So based on ‘perception’…India is declared dangerous and most unsafe nation of women. Any agenda? https://t.co/lg58yAgQjl
— Marya Shakil (@maryashakil) June 26, 2018
548 people out of 7 billion population is around 0.0000078%. So the opinion of 0.0000078% of people means little, to be honest. Even if you assign weight to their credibility, the percentage is still abysmal.
Also, if a survey is not based on proper data but perceived notion (as mentioned in their methodology here), then let me declare this article as the best article of the world if we get more than 548 likes on social media.
You get the drift.
There’s no denying the fact that women safety in India is a grave issue that demands attention and consistent efforts. Had the survey been based on ample data curated from credible sources around the world & India, conducted in more languages, involved a larger dataset, the result would have been more effective & accurate. What we need are actionable insights, not questionable perception.
And people are, obviously, not impressed.
Some learned said "When truth is blurred by lies and misinformation, perception becomes reality and all is lost.” @ReutersIndia get it facts clear dear..😐
— DM 💐….. Every path has its puddle.. (@DMNamasteAll) June 26, 2018
Now @ReutersIndia @TR_Foundation are going to start dishing out reports based on perception nd not actual data nd that too from so called biased “Experts”!!What a comedown of a once upon a time credible institution!
— Lotus (@LotusBharat) June 26, 2018
Shouldn’t facts based news be used to change perception? Instead of giving a forum to ‘perception’ and ‘notions’? Very disappointed with @Reuters
— Archana Sinha (@archanasin) June 27, 2018
Let’s admit it, India is on that list. If not the worst, we’re on that list anyway. And how to get off that list should be our concern. Having said that, blatantly tagging us as the ‘worst’ in the world shouldn’t go unchecked too. That way, how would we even know if we’re making progress or not? Food for thought.