Friday, March 25, 2005
Polls
Homer Map
Originally uploaded by Blind Orange Julius.
What the hell do polls tell us?
So you're sitting at home, maybe settling in to watch a little TV or spend time with your family. Maybe you're just sitting down for supper after a long day at work. The phone rings. No, it's not a telemarketer, it's a pollster. Truthfully I don't see a whole lot of difference. I got called by a number of pollsters this week, taking a survey on fast food restaurants. Since I can't remember the last time I ate at a fast food restaurant I just hung up. It didn't stop them from trying again later.
So I'll usually just hang up. Sometimes I'll give them bogus information. That can be a lot of fun if I've got the time. And that's my point about polls, nobody is obligated to tell the truth and by the nature of the polling, I can really get away with some serious fibbing. I've told pollsters I'm black, asian and eskimo. What do I care? And what does it really matter if I lie? A poll is in no way legally binding. And the fact of the matter is that nobody really pays attention anyway.
Take the current Schiavo case. A majority of people polled don't want the government involved in this case. Interestingly, the numbers are pretty consistent across the board, Democrats, Republicans, Church-goers, etc. People don't want the government involved. The Government got involved though, regardless of what the people think.
An early ABC poll on this matter was, in my opinion, flawed. The poll referred to a "Brain Dead" person, and asked if people would remove life support. Neither is the case in the Schiavo matter, but the press reported on the results of this poll as if they were. A more recent CBS poll has adressed these issues and the results are similar to those in the ABC poll.
But bad polling is rampant. Also, people seem to think that just asking a question will give insight to a situation. While working in TV, a competing station ran the following poll/crawl during local programming: "Are You in Favor of Nude Basketball? To Vote 'Yes' call ###-####, 'No' call ###-####" Confused? I wasn't at the time, but recognized a faulty poll when I saw one.
First, a good piece of polling must allow for any potential response. That's why in polls you will see responses like "No Opinion" or "None of the Above."
More importantly, respondents have to understand the issue that they're being polled on. Confused by my "Nude Basketball" example? You should be. The question was ridiculously vague. The poll question was referring to a local high school basketball team that ended their practices with a free throw shooting drill. In a variation of 'strip poker,' players had to remove an item of clothing when they missed a shot. I'm sure the coach figured it was the end of practice, the boys were heading to the showers anyway, what's the harm in getting naked a little early? It turned into a minor scandle as some parents caught wind and made a fuss.
So the good folks at KELO-TV decided to run a little poll. Without any explanation of the issue, KELO asked "Are You in Favor of Nude Basketball?" A friend of mine later said she wanted to call and say "yes" and ask if they were forming leagues.
The point is that it was a bad poll, it didn't explain the issue, was too broad and didn't allow for all responses. I like to think it was thought up by an intern and put on the air by a rogue master control operator, but the fact is that it was poor news judgement. Since this happened well over 10 years ago, I'm sure the offending people are all gone.
I like to think we're more poll savy now, but then ABC uses a faulty poll in the Schiavo case. My advice, just don't answer
Does this look infected to you?
BOJ
Originally uploaded by Blind Orange Julius.
What the hell do polls tell us?
So you're sitting at home, maybe settling in to watch a little TV or spend time with your family. Maybe you're just sitting down for supper after a long day at work. The phone rings. No, it's not a telemarketer, it's a pollster. Truthfully I don't see a whole lot of difference. I got called by a number of pollsters this week, taking a survey on fast food restaurants. Since I can't remember the last time I ate at a fast food restaurant I just hung up. It didn't stop them from trying again later.
So I'll usually just hang up. Sometimes I'll give them bogus information. That can be a lot of fun if I've got the time. And that's my point about polls, nobody is obligated to tell the truth and by the nature of the polling, I can really get away with some serious fibbing. I've told pollsters I'm black, asian and eskimo. What do I care? And what does it really matter if I lie? A poll is in no way legally binding. And the fact of the matter is that nobody really pays attention anyway.
Take the current Schiavo case. A majority of people polled don't want the government involved in this case. Interestingly, the numbers are pretty consistent across the board, Democrats, Republicans, Church-goers, etc. People don't want the government involved. The Government got involved though, regardless of what the people think.
An early ABC poll on this matter was, in my opinion, flawed. The poll referred to a "Brain Dead" person, and asked if people would remove life support. Neither is the case in the Schiavo matter, but the press reported on the results of this poll as if they were. A more recent CBS poll has adressed these issues and the results are similar to those in the ABC poll.
But bad polling is rampant. Also, people seem to think that just asking a question will give insight to a situation. While working in TV, a competing station ran the following poll/crawl during local programming: "Are You in Favor of Nude Basketball? To Vote 'Yes' call ###-####, 'No' call ###-####" Confused? I wasn't at the time, but recognized a faulty poll when I saw one.
First, a good piece of polling must allow for any potential response. That's why in polls you will see responses like "No Opinion" or "None of the Above."
More importantly, respondents have to understand the issue that they're being polled on. Confused by my "Nude Basketball" example? You should be. The question was ridiculously vague. The poll question was referring to a local high school basketball team that ended their practices with a free throw shooting drill. In a variation of 'strip poker,' players had to remove an item of clothing when they missed a shot. I'm sure the coach figured it was the end of practice, the boys were heading to the showers anyway, what's the harm in getting naked a little early? It turned into a minor scandle as some parents caught wind and made a fuss.
So the good folks at KELO-TV decided to run a little poll. Without any explanation of the issue, KELO asked "Are You in Favor of Nude Basketball?" A friend of mine later said she wanted to call and say "yes" and ask if they were forming leagues.
The point is that it was a bad poll, it didn't explain the issue, was too broad and didn't allow for all responses. I like to think it was thought up by an intern and put on the air by a rogue master control operator, but the fact is that it was poor news judgement. Since this happened well over 10 years ago, I'm sure the offending people are all gone.
I like to think we're more poll savy now, but then ABC uses a faulty poll in the Schiavo case. My advice, just don't answer
Does this look infected to you?
BOJ
# posted by Blind Orange Julius @ 3:40 PM 
