Please substitute the following for the mangled first paragraph. I must have screwed up in my word processor!
“Polls have many purposes. To the chattering political classes in Washington, D.C., they are purposed to get a gauge of public opinion. To the political operative, they are utilized to mold public opinion, by the infamous ‘push poll (in which campaign claims are imbedded in the poll questions themselves), or by portraying a candidate as more popular than they are, or even by painting a demographic as unreasonable or absurd”
I took a poll at my house and found that 100% of repondents don’t put much stock in polls.
You make good points about polling facts and fallacies. The other factor that plays in, is that the MSM then takes the poll results and reports them or does not report them, or emphasizes their potential inaccuracy or not, depending on the slant the media outlet chooses to employ. This adds to the likelihood that what the majority of the public hears about polls and their results is further skewed to support an agenda that is not the least bit “fair and accurate”.
Laz,
I still think you are a ploptimist...
Birdie, birdie in the sky
Let a turdie in my eye
I’m a big boy, I won’t cry
Boy, I’m sure glad cows don’t fly...
(Cows don’t fly... Right!)
Here are some pole questions I’d like to ask liberls:
1. Do you favor hot poles are cold poles?
2. Do you favor straight poles or gay poles?
3. Do you favor wood poles or metal poles?
4. Do you prefer smoking poles or riding poles?
5. Should poles be banned in commercial tent structures?
6. Do you favor legislation that would tax poles based on size?
More liberal pole questions you never see:
1. Which do you believe to be true: Obama is 1) a Muslim or 2) a natural born Kenyan?
2. I believe Obama is: 1) Unqualified for the job or 2) Destroying America with his socialist policies
3. I believe the consitution is: 1) An old document that is outdated and irrelevant or 2) Does not have anything to do with how a president governs.
Thanks for the Ping!
It works like this: You wouldn't want to be a bigot would you why the latest poll shows that {black issue/ gay marriage issue/ whatever issue} is favored by 51% of the population. That up from 40% just a year ago, you too should reconsider your position.
Polls are the supreme temptation to make conservative politicians abandon their principles in favor of popularity.
“Poles are for telephone lines and phishing.”
~Para Sailin’~
I think your points are very good, Mr. Mataz. I was naive and dumb as a rock in 2008 (still not TOO bright), hanging on every poll that came out. I don’t pay any attention to them now. Although, as you say, it pays to perk up as the election nears.
Such crooks.....
The poll was run only in Mississippi and Alabama because those states' primaries were a couple of days away. The author weakens his valid overall point by overreaching to make things sinister.
Now, the West Virginia primary, where a convicted felon serving time in Texas garnered 40% of the vote in the closed Democrat primary? That's a poll worthy of attention.
Keith Judd, American Hero:
Not that the Kenyan stood much chance in WV anyway, but still....
Exactly. 90% of all statistics are totally made up.
Don’t forget “Push Polling” which became popular during the Clinton administration. I had a Commander and Section Superintendent attempt to use it to convince the unit that they were happy where the unit was located.
It didn’t work.
One thing to note is that the House race polls were fewer because of how small the districts were and how many of them there were. I don't think the polls themselves were push, but the "experts" were slow to match what the polls were showing.
The following links show my weekly analysis of the House polls. Notice how quickly the polls themselves show a blowout by the GOP (9/11/10) vs. how long it took the experts to reach the same conclusions (10/9/10). Even when the "experts" caught up, they predicted fewer House wins than the people.
My analysis of the results indicated that the experts stayed on the fence much longer than the people, not giving the GOP the race wins until the last possible moment.
My opinion, not necessarily shared by by IP or Randita, was that the experts were intentionally holding back in order to keep the GOP from building up the wave for as long as possible. I likened it back to how the MSM in 2000 was calling states for Gore within minutes of a state closing, even though the race was within 1-2% and only a few precincts had reported, while they held back on calling a state for Bush for 30 minutes or more even though the race was > 5% difference and many precincts had reported.
Link to 2010 People Poll Summary.
Link to 2010 Expert Assessment Summary.
-PJ
Polling organizations, Old Media organizations, and Political organizations intend for Polls to become the "Pavlov's dogs" stimulus for a dumbed-down public.
Implementing functionally fake polls (as you have already pointed out) coupled with a blaring headline that will drive fear, greed, confusion, etc. into the public consciousness is their method of constantly "training" the public to react to, and ingest, the blaring headline.
They know that a lie can travel a thousand miles while the truth is putting on its boots. Too many FReepers, just like the general public, react to the headline, just a planned.
Luckily, FR has some high quality individuals who can provide a quality analysis of the contents and methodology of the poll, thus informing FReepers. Unfortunately, the general public does not have access to that quality analysis, so the fear, greed, confusion, etc., headline is what they will remember and most likely accept.
I readily look for that analysis on threads about polls, and I recommend that other FReepers do the same. In fact, I wish that one of those good Poll analysts would start a ping list/contact point for Poll threads so that the analysis can/will be provided soon after the thread is posted.
The truth will puncture the Poll lies every time. And even if FReepers are the only ones to initially "get the facts behind the Poll headline", they can subsequently spread the information via their networks, and, in addition, the analysis becomes a permanent record on FR.
Enjoyed your article, thanks for posting it.
Forgot to add you to the LazList!!! Here’s another.
Dude, it’s too bad this thread has received so few replies (I got here from the place where you mention it) because it is an important topic.
I don’t know if polls by otherwise reputable organizations are intended to mold public opinion, I know that they do, because people, like stray dogs and cats, want to be part of a larger herd, and so often vote just so they can join in and brag and friend friends and strangers, just like they read stupid books and listen to shatty music that others in the herd listen to and read. Disgusting facts of life.
Working my way down my inbox...
Polls are evil, as is anything connected to the Mid Stream Media.
(As in getting a sample for a medical test...)