tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3537843474894274857.post8960132280082063784..comments2024-03-29T11:15:19.918-04:00Comments on Riding On: Polling failuresDave Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10429379083970699093noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3537843474894274857.post-20815682342824184252016-05-10T14:55:46.540-04:002016-05-10T14:55:46.540-04:00Lies, damned lies and statisticsLies, damned lies and statisticsDave Rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10429379083970699093noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3537843474894274857.post-88833851630782606242016-05-10T13:31:40.559-04:002016-05-10T13:31:40.559-04:00Whats that quote about lies and statisticsWhats that quote about lies and statisticsJohn Going Gentlyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14958171262765033946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3537843474894274857.post-45662881176597346742016-05-10T11:44:55.790-04:002016-05-10T11:44:55.790-04:00Mental aberration aka Survey Monkey?Mental aberration aka Survey Monkey?Dave Rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10429379083970699093noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3537843474894274857.post-78987208382961453262016-05-10T10:33:26.818-04:002016-05-10T10:33:26.818-04:00Part of the fun/foolishness of polls is that if yo...Part of the fun/foolishness of polls is that if you ask people if they trust polls, you are in fact polling them. If I do not trust polls, and I answer "No", would that make your poll trustworthy? Or would "Yes" make the poll unreliable and thus confirm my bias? Am I overthinking this? Under-thinking? (The latter seems more common among both poll designers and poll respndents.)<br /><br />At any rate, when I have been asked questions on the phone in political polls, the questions are sometimes as absurd as "Do you support the kind and loving John Doe or that vicious rabid hatemonger Ellen Bellen?" All too often even when questions are more reasonable, after I answer the first question, they thank me and hang up. As you point out, they ask no follow-up questions to find out what my opinion is based on, if it is a matter of religious belief or mental aberration or misogyny or whatever. The information they obtain is essentially useless but will provide fodder for endless political pundits to predict what will happen and then to explain away why they were wrong. And none of them are likely to say, "We relied on polls that asked stupid questions and obtained useless data and thought we knew what the answers meant and we didn't. Therefore we are quitting our jobs and recommending that you spend you time more fruitfully by visiting with your grandchildren." Michael Doddhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00942287172727040371noreply@blogger.com