Overseas Exile Poll Results

The poll results are in (but I'll leave it open for a while if other folks want to answer). As I work with the Web for a living, I can make a few definite statements about online polls:

• Response rates vary dramatically
• Designing an effective poll is very hard
• You don't want to make financially-critical decisions based on the results
• Even if you trust the results, they're hard to interpret
• They're fun

I deliberately didn't push the poll very hard as I wanted to ensure that mostly regular readers would take it. Response rates on polls are often very low, particularly when the poll is longer. I received 64 poll responses which, while not a large number, is enough for me to feel comfortable taking a few decisions about the future of this blog (if you're curious, as of last month I'm averaging 300 hits a day which isn't too bad for a brand new blog). As this is not a money-making venture (though if a TV producer wants to make a travel show people really want to watch, they should drop me a line), I'm not overly worried about making mistakes here. I'm just worried about proving information that people would really find relevant regarding regarding a plan to move abroad.
So without further ado, here are the poll results. Make of them what you will.

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What country do you currently live in?

Answer	# answered	%
United States of America	39	61%
Australia	1	2%
Belarus	1	2%
Brazil	3	5%
Denmark	1	2%
France	2	3%
Germany	1	2%
Greece	1	2%
India	1	2%
Malta	1	2%
Netherlands	3	5%
Norway	1	2%
Portugal	1	2%
Singapore	1	2%
Spain	1	2%
United Kingdom	6	9%

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Where would you like to go?

Answer	# answered	%
Anywhere	15	23%
Europe	25	39%
United States of America	1	2%
Australia	2	3%
Canada	5	8%
France	2	3%
Germany	3	5%
Ireland	1	2%
Mexico	1	2%
Netherlands	1	2%
New Zealand	2	3%
Singapore	1	2%
Switzerland	3	5%
United Kingdom	2	3%

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How serious are you about moving to another country?

Answer	# answered	%
1- Wishful thinking	0	0%
2	8	13%
3	23	36%
4	17	27%
5 - Dead Serious	16	25%

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Why do you want to move to another country?

Answer	# answered	%
Adventure	39	61%
Economic opportunities abroad	24	38%
Unemployment at home	8	13%
Political/religious oppression	6	9%
Want a better political atmosphere	30	47%
Worried for your country's future	27	42%
Other	12	19%

People may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add up to more than 100%.

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How soon would you like to leave?

Answer	# answered	%
As soon as possible	9	14%
Within six months	7	11%
Within a year	10	16%
Within five years	32	50%
After five years	5	8%
When you retire	1	2%

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How old are you?

Answer	# answered	%
Less than 18 years old	3	5%
18 to 25	14	22%
26 to 35	25	39%
36 to 45	13	20%
45 to 55	7	11%
56 or older	2	3%

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Are you "skilled" or "unskilled" labor?

Answer	# answered	%
Skilled	59	92%
Unskilled	4	6%
Unsure	1	2%

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How should government be involved in social issues?

Answer	# answered	%
1- Government has no role here	12	19%
2	14	23%
3	18	29%
4	11	18%
5- Government should support the culture	7	11%

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How should government be involved in economic issues?

Answer	# answered	%
1 - Governments should regulate	10	16%
2	19	30%
3	20	31%
4	11	17%
5 - Markets should regulate	4	6%

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Would you like more "opinion" posts on the Overseas Exile blog?

Answer	# answered	%
Yes	42	72%
No	16	28%

Since I generated these results, two more people took the poll and voted "Yes" for opinion posts.

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In a later post, I'll describe how I interpret this in light of this blog. Also, for any of you Web design geeks who are wondering about the tables: I am an HTML 3 god. It ranks right up there with my mad COBOL chops. If you're not a Web design geek, that was a joke you can safely ignore.