NationStates Jolt Archive

Just out of curiosity.

What do you think about biased polls?
Just out of curiosity.

A: They suck, or B: I love when polls have no credibility.

Erm. Do you mean polls on this forum, or polls conducted by media outlets? And what exactly are you referring to by biased?
Explain.

Polls? What are those?
I tell people what to think. :p

:confused:

I think they're probably biased.

I demand a biased poll for comedy relief dammit.

I demand a biased poll for comedy relief dammit.
Your wish is my command, O one of (almost) 10,000 posts :P
Ya damn postwhore

Polls can be used as a political weapon. I had the chance to watch a conference in Marketing on this subject.

POLL 1
"Do you think meat is murder?"
A> YES
B> NO

This is clearly a biased poll, as the question suggests a strong bias against meat.

Now, even worse.

POLL 2
"Do you think Tony Blair was a bully or a hooligan while in college?"
A> YES
B> NO

Suppose that indeed, nothing whatsoever would suggest that Blair was indeed a bully. And suppose that no story has ever mentioned anything close to this. Now, what have we done in one sentence? We have created DOUBTS in the public's mind.

Any decent poll will have well-crafted questions and suggested answers, so that it doesn't suggest or infer anything. And polls shouldn't be used as political weapons.

Now it can get trickier. Look at this poll.

POLL 3
"When will Al Quaeda strike America next?"
A> This year
B> In the next 3 years
C> In the decade
D> I don't know

See how we have indeed supposed that Al Quaeda WILL attack us. This poll contributes to (possibly) irrational fears. And it doesn't propose answers that would rule out an attack.

Finally, one last biased poll for tonight. Even trickier. It's called the "answer you can't use".

POLL 4
"What do you think of politicians?"
A> They're all crooks
B> I trust them blindly, they never lie, and they're all honest

I am just slightly exagerating an ACTUAL poll question I was asked last year. Now, who would be stupid enough to answer B? This poll is flawed. Most probably, 80%+ persons will answer A. And a lot of persons will complain that no other choice is given (such as "I trust some of them").

i would choose A