joelsnan I agree collecting data about something fairly nebulous like “happiness” is subjective and open to interpretation , especially if data is gathered via a questionnaire, however data on past ( rather than future) voting behaviour will be more accurate and based on representative, rather than random, sampling, so will not be mere guesswork. The demographic characteristics of certain groups of voters can be accurate to a high degree of probability and won't have involved interviewing every single voter, dead or alive, as you must know. So we will be able to calculate from the number of deaths since 2016, their ages, what % of those will have statistically been likely to have voted , and what % of those who voted will have voted a particular way. Whilst this is not going to be 100% accurate the probability of accuracy is high, if we also compared that result to a representative sample of those of a similar age to the deceased group and asked them about their voting patterns we can check our results for reliability and validity. So we can’t dismiss all statistical data, particularly those that are gathered using scientific methodology ( but of course not all statistics quoted will have such academic credibility I agree).
Sometimes it’s just the small things that press the bruise isn’t it? 😢
