While I don't disagree with you, this is a false dichotomy. A proper analysis of the findings should have reported -- and explained -- both absolute and relative differences.
The article shouldn't have to spell out absolute differences in English sentences. The article mentions the important part (relative difference) in English sentences. The article includes the chart of the response rate by race the reader can see everything:
race response rate
black 11.01%
white 12.32%
hispanic 12.92%
