You’re kidding right? You don’t see what sample sizes… have to do with statistics.
Anyway provided the sample of 1200 was a true simple random sample (hard to ever get in reality when you’re surveying people, for reasons we won’t get into here), you’re correct that a sample proportion of .409 is highly unlikely to occur if the true population parameter is >0.5 (i.e. a majority of people in that country).
Since the OP didn’t provide a direct link to whatever the hell survey he’s talking about, just based on the data he provided (n=1200, p-hat=0.409), we can determine the margin of error to be + or - .0278 (2.78%) with 95% confidence.
The whole thing is flawed without the context of the rest of the data though, which as others have pointed out seems to suggest a general trend of xenophobia among Korean respondents and not a singled-out hatred for Jews.
Racism is very open in many parts of Asia, including Korea. A statement like “I wouldnt want to live next door to a jew/turk/albanian” would be a little shocking in the US but in Korea its just a statement of fact that might not offend. Toss in the negative influence of Christian ministries and the amount of Christians they have and its not too surprising that their bias is a against Jews. Of course, Jesus was a Jew, considered himself a Jew (celebrated passover), and died a Jew.
I dont deal with foreigners very much anymore, but Im always a little shocked at the casual racism many have. People who dont live in mixed urban areas or melting pot societies simply dont share you values.
Indeed, a better question might be: “Whom don’t the Koreans hate?” A bit of an exaggeration perhaps, but I’ve not found them to be the easiest people to deal with.
Racism in Thailand is very open and considered part of the natural order. Westerners nattering on about how wrong it is are taken as Exhibit A for the addlemindedness of the West.
In the 1930s, one Thai statesman famously stood up in parliament and described the Chinese as the Jews of Asia. Then he pointed to Germany as a model for how to deal with them. (Then as now, the more successful business people in Thailand were of Chinese ethnicity.)
A relative mine of was mine once engaged to a Korean Jew (Jewish mother, Korean father). I wonder what she would think of the whole thing…
I’ve had a lot of dealings with Koreans over the last 2 years; I’ve never heard any say any anti-Jewish stuff. I have heard Koreans say they admire Jews a great deal.
In my experience Koreans are the most insular people I’ve ever met, and some can’t go 10 minutes without talking crap about the Chinese or the Japanese.
All three seem to be in some sort of contest. But as for insularity, there have been Japanese who were shocked to discover that some other places also have four seasons. They seemed to have thought that was just another attribute that made Japan special.
I’m inclined to agree with the statement that disproportionately many Koreans are very insular, quite judgmental, and casually racist. I don’t think this statistic points to any special hatred for the Jews, just a general xenophobia and widespread ignorance. I also think that the Christianity link has very little, if any, to do with it. In fact, I might even guess that the Christian demographic is more tolerant on the whole, of others. My mother is an enthusiastic church goer, and from what I’ve seen, her church (70,000 members, likely the largest in Korea) is quite progressive and liberal, especially when compared with Southern Baptist or Pentacostal churches. Certainly they don’t preach any kind of hatred for the Jews.
Overall, the xenophobia and prejudice commonly associated with Koreans is very much an older generation thing, and even more than that, it’s a lot of empty talk with no real conviction either way.
I was in the middle of eating a nice meal today at an expensive restaurant with some foreign friends. A man walked up to me and exclaimed with great surprise “You can eat our Chinese food!?!?”
Sorry, which ‘Korea’ are we talking about? North or south? Everyone in this thread has referred to it simply as ‘Korea’, even people who’ve said they live there or have close Korean relatives. Surely there’s a pretty big difference between the two? For instance, the reference to half the population being communist doesn’t apply if, as I suspect, we’re talking about South Korea here.