Who Ya' Gonna Call?

In Britain, apparently, it's ghosts over God. Found this AP story at CBS2 in Chicago.

More Britons believe in ghosts than in God, according to an informal survey published Monday. Of 2,012 people who completed a questionnaire, 68 percent said they believed in the existence of ghosts and spirits, while 55 percent said they believed in the existence of a god.

Some 26 percent said they believed in the existence of unidentified flying objects, or UFOs, while 19 percent believed in reincarnation. Just 4 percent admitted believing that the Loch Ness Monster was more than a myth.

Of those who believed in ghosts, 12 percent said they had actually seen an apparition and 76 percent said that TV reality shows about the supernatural and films like the spooky "Blair Witch Project" had played a part in convincing them that ghouls exist.

My favorite part of this story is the disclaimer.

The Halloween survey was carried out by retailer ChoicesUK. But since it was not a random sample, its findings do not represent a statistically valid barometer of British opinion.

While I'm curious to know what is a statistically valid barometer of British opinion, I'm more intrigued to know how this non-random sample came together.

I can see it now: A researcher walks into a London pub a few days before Halloween and asks, "Who here has seen a ghost?"

Happy Day After Halloween.