Last week, we published the results of a SurveyMonkey Audience poll we conducted about two thorny grammar debates: the usage of the Oxford, or serial, comma and the noun “data.” The poll of 1,129 Americans, conducted from June 3 to 5, showed that the pro-Oxford comma crowd has a somewhat substantial lead overall: 57 percent to 43 percent. And the data was conclusive: Respondents overwhelmingly preferred data as a singular noun in normal parlance.
You can now download the raw responses to our survey at FiveThirtyEight’s GitHub page. If you find or create anything interesting, shoot me an email.
Readers had asked how the responses broke down by age, so here’s a chart to show who falls into each comma camp. The younger crowd overwhelmingly prefers the Oxford comma.
Fans of the comma can take heart: As with most divisive issues that break down like this, time is on your side.