Analyzing Polls and Surveys
To discuss social trends, you will need some specific vocabulary related to public research, such as polls (de peiling), surveys (de enquête), and sample sizes (de steekproef).
| Both the poll and the survey need a good sample. | Zowel de peiling als de enquête heeft een goede steekproef nodig. |
Clausal Comparisons with dan dat
In simple comparisons, you just use dan (e.g., groter dan de steekproef — larger than the sample). However, if you are comparing something to an entire clause (an action or a situation, like "than most respondents think"), Dutch uses dan dat.
Because dat introduces a subordinate clause, all verbs in that part of the sentence are pushed to the very end.
| The result is more uncertain than most respondents think. | Het resultaat is onzekerder dan dat de meeste respondenten denken. |
| Some polls reflect reality better than we suspect. | Sommige peilingen weerspiegelen de werkelijkheid beter dan dat we vermoeden. |
| The sample is considerably larger than we expected yesterday. | De steekproef is aanzienlijk groter dan dat we gisteren verwachtten. |
Analyzing Social Trends
You will frequently see dan dat used to evaluate public opinion and statistical trends, such as an increase (de stijging) or a decrease (afnemen). The grammatical rule remains exactly the same: the verbs go to the end of the dat clause, even when the sentence has multiple parts.
| The increase is larger than the majority thinks. | De stijging is groter dan dat de meerderheid denkt. |
| The percentage decreases faster than we expect on average. | Het percentage neemt sneller af dan dat we gemiddeld verwachten. |
| We notice that the interest decreases slower than the researchers thought. | We merken dat de interesse langzamer afneemt dan dat de onderzoekers dachten. |
