Why Polls Are Bad
September 12th, 2006 | by Craig |I just got off the phone with a pollster, and I have to say that polls really suck.
Talk about false dichotomies and begging the question.
This is a (somewhat exaggerated) example: “Do you favor clean energy or global warming?”
I don’t know, did you stop beating your wife?
This is why I distrust polls implicitly.
4 Responses to “Why Polls Are Bad”
By Mark T on Sep 12, 2006 | Reply
Sounds like you were push polled. I’ve been polled, and it was done professionally - after they were done, I had a clean sparkling feeling.
By Rocky Smith on Sep 13, 2006 | Reply
That’s a good illustration of how a poll can get the results the pollsters want. It’s all in how the question is phrased. I put little confidence in polls. You democrats reading this should do the same. Remember how all the polls showed liberals making big gains in the last election? Couldn’t happen again, could it?
By Dani on Sep 13, 2006 | Reply
Rocky has a good point. I have to say, ever since the exit polls showed Kerry ahead by 11% or thereabouts, I have felt that a race within the margin of error will go to the Republicans. If it’s outside the margin of error, in favor of the Democrat, it’s a tossup. If it favors the Republican, it’s a guaranteed rout. Also, any time they aren’t polling “likely voters,” an election poll is completely worthless. It’s amazing that a news source would ever use an election poll of “registered voters”, but they still do, because of the built-in bias toward the liberal candidate.
By Tony Rosen on Sep 14, 2006 | Reply
I know, I’m a little late to the dog-fight …
I’ve actually had a pollster ask:
“Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: The killing of innocent children is morally wrong.”
Three points to them for not saying “abortion” … hence, why I’m a “c”onservative.