Tag archives for Scottish - Page 3


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Scottish Independence – Make Sure You Vote

August and September 2014 opinion poll results on Scottish Independence I've scoured the Web for all the Scottish Independence opinion polls I could find. My conclusion is that it's pretty much neck and neck in the final straight. So if you've got a vote it's vital that you use it. There was a slew of polls released on 11th & 12th September, and as you can see from the graph they basically overlap. This means that the differences between them are all down to the margin of error in the polling methodology. Given how close it is every vote will count. If you haven't yet made up your mind then it is time to do so, see my previous post on cutting through the bias inherent in every campaigner's rhetoric.  You might also want to skim Robert Hutton's Would They…
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Scottish Independence – Another View of the Polling Data

Since I posted the graph on the opinion poll data on the Independence Referendum in Scotland I've had some questions on both twitter and facebook (mainly from two of my three brothers still living in Scotland, one a clear Yes voter and the other undecided). I was asked whether leaving out the undecideds was skewing the result that I was showing. My initial response to this was that it wasn't, the analysis was looking at how the proportion of those deciding to vote was changing in favour of Yes. However I thought that I would go back and do the three way look at things and see if that gave a different picture. Clearly the visual is very different, partly my choice in how to present it. However the story it tells is not different from the one I produced…
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Scottish Independence – Polling Trends

Not long to go now until the Scottish Independence Referendum. The noise is crowding out the signal, and more and more people seem to be deciding which way they are going to vote. Also those not able to vote ( the residents of the rest of the UK) are also expressing their opinions. So I thought I would go look at the opinion polls and the trend. I recognised that the various campaign followers have criticised various pollsters for being biased, so I thought I'd get the data and graph it by major pollster. I also produced a series of trend lines to see how things were changing. These are shown below. Proportion of those declaring YES in the IndyRef, poll data from wikipedia A couple of points: This is the YES proportion after the undecideds are excluded all the…
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Scottish Independence – Staying Positive

I'm Scottish and I live in England. So I don't get a vote on Scotland becoming independent. I do get to express my opinion though. For most of my life I would describe myself as a proud Scot. The outcome on September 18th won't change that. What could is the negative campaigning, especially from the Yes camp. There is much to be proud of as a Scot and many reasons why Independence is  right for Scotland. However being negative about the English or Westminster isn't the right way to do it. Scots should be looking at what they can have, what they will be, not painting themselves as victims. I watched the Scotland Decides debate the other night. Alex Salmond came across as a Tartan Tory, a little Scotlander using the Daily Mail's play book and sticking a kilt on it. Darling…
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Book Review – Hide and Seek by Ian Rankin

Hide and Seek by Ian Rankin My rating: 4 of 5 stars A fairly easy read. Rebus is an interesting character and the story was well plotted with a less than obvious outcome. It has a realistic feeling to it and lives within the time that it was written, although much of that would still work now. I read it because it was cheap and I have always wondered if the Rebus novels were any good. I think that they are based on this one (the second of many) and I can see why they sell by the truckload. I suspect I'll be catching some more of these on my kindle. View all my reviews Related articles Ian Rankin creator of Inspector Rebus writes new book inspired by 'greatest guitarist' Ian Rankin: 'Mavericks like Rebus wouldn't join the modern police…
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