"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."
- Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
"A consensus means that everyone agrees to say collectively what no one believes individually."
- Abba Eban (1915-2002)
It always begins like that, a simple little question, and before you know it you are part of a poll. One of the respondents. Nine out of the proverbial ten. You have voiced your opinion and it has been twisted into whatever they wanted it to be in the first place.
“Do you favor Proposition 134a?”
“Why … no…”
“Our most recent poll shows 89% of your district were in favor.”
Which our fragile psyche translates into “Does that mean I am wrong?” As Americans we favor the majority. If everyone else says it is right, it must be true. If television says it is, then it must be. If this guy is saying he surveyed 100 people and 89 said yes, I must be in the minority and therefore wrong. Minority is an unfavorable term in our American version of the English language. Just ask anyone who is one. Why can’t we all be equal, and just be people? Why can’t both sides of the poll be right, and just have different views? Because as Americans we want a winner and a loser. In a poll the majority wins and therefore we want to run with the herd.
Bush got his majority to approve the Iraq war. Ask congress today to have every member stand up who voted in favor and you’ll get excuse after excuse. Basically it’s all the same one deep down, I didn’t want to stand out and take a chance, and if I voted with the majority I could use it as cover. “Well everyone else was doing it…” We learn this as kids; they do it all the time.
Old Dominion University conducted some polls on a proposed football program. You notice things they left out in the article "Old Dominion debates getting into the football game" (DUCIBELLA,2005) discussing it. Ninety percent of respondents among alumni favored it. (Para 11) Of course, they didn’t ask them to pay for it. In releasing the poll they left out the fact that they didn’t mention it would take 30 million to get the program up and running. They simply trotted off to inform the board at the university that an overwhelming majority favored a football program. A dean at ODU conducted her own poll in a classroom, how many favored a football program. Most hands went up, and then she asked who would be willing to pay higher tuition for it. (Para 16) You can guess the outcome.
Polls are still one of the most favored methods of skewing public opinion. They still work extremely well. Frighteningly so. It works especially well on older generations. They have a different outlook, still wanting to take people at their word. Also wanting their words to be listened too. In order to have your opinion desired you have to be thought of as smart. If they are right they will be perceived as smart. So they go with the majority in order to have the most amount of people agree with them as possible. See how smart I am? All these people say so.
Since we are presented only with the side of the argument the pollsters want us to hear it should be taken with a huge grain of salt. Normally it isn’t. It doesn’t help that the polltakers can hide behind different labels proclaiming them to be independent or some such. Where’s the proof? Is there an independent polltakers institute that certifies poll-taking companies to be independent? Who could you get to fill that job? The Pope? Afraid not, even the Catholics use polls. Polls are a big part of everything from getting land rezoned to selling multimillion dollars product lines to getting politicians elected. The amount of bribery, payola and graft that goes on must be staggering. Even if your interest couldn’t buy their way to a favorable outcome it’s no worry. Make your own poll. Who is going to know?
Is Bush doing a good job? Check with the poll by:
“Responsible Educators Pursuing Unified Business Licenses In Companies Allowing National Security”
Surely with a name like that it must be true, nonpartial and working in the best interests of the American people.
For the sake of argument let’s say they are honest hard working people. Can a poll still be slanted one way? I’d say yes. If I walked up to you with a rattlesnake in one hand and a pack of gum X in the other and asked which you preferred, I bet nine out of ten would prefer the gum. When I run the commercial do I have to mention the rattlesnake?
Maybe, just maybe, it’s all on the up and up and it’s when the poll results are turned over to the people who paid to have it conducted that it gets skewed. That’s only natural, because they definitely have an opinion, and they want it to be yours.
- Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
"A consensus means that everyone agrees to say collectively what no one believes individually."
- Abba Eban (1915-2002)
It always begins like that, a simple little question, and before you know it you are part of a poll. One of the respondents. Nine out of the proverbial ten. You have voiced your opinion and it has been twisted into whatever they wanted it to be in the first place.
“Do you favor Proposition 134a?”
“Why … no…”
“Our most recent poll shows 89% of your district were in favor.”
Which our fragile psyche translates into “Does that mean I am wrong?” As Americans we favor the majority. If everyone else says it is right, it must be true. If television says it is, then it must be. If this guy is saying he surveyed 100 people and 89 said yes, I must be in the minority and therefore wrong. Minority is an unfavorable term in our American version of the English language. Just ask anyone who is one. Why can’t we all be equal, and just be people? Why can’t both sides of the poll be right, and just have different views? Because as Americans we want a winner and a loser. In a poll the majority wins and therefore we want to run with the herd.
Bush got his majority to approve the Iraq war. Ask congress today to have every member stand up who voted in favor and you’ll get excuse after excuse. Basically it’s all the same one deep down, I didn’t want to stand out and take a chance, and if I voted with the majority I could use it as cover. “Well everyone else was doing it…” We learn this as kids; they do it all the time.
Old Dominion University conducted some polls on a proposed football program. You notice things they left out in the article "Old Dominion debates getting into the football game" (DUCIBELLA,2005) discussing it. Ninety percent of respondents among alumni favored it. (Para 11) Of course, they didn’t ask them to pay for it. In releasing the poll they left out the fact that they didn’t mention it would take 30 million to get the program up and running. They simply trotted off to inform the board at the university that an overwhelming majority favored a football program. A dean at ODU conducted her own poll in a classroom, how many favored a football program. Most hands went up, and then she asked who would be willing to pay higher tuition for it. (Para 16) You can guess the outcome.
Polls are still one of the most favored methods of skewing public opinion. They still work extremely well. Frighteningly so. It works especially well on older generations. They have a different outlook, still wanting to take people at their word. Also wanting their words to be listened too. In order to have your opinion desired you have to be thought of as smart. If they are right they will be perceived as smart. So they go with the majority in order to have the most amount of people agree with them as possible. See how smart I am? All these people say so.
Since we are presented only with the side of the argument the pollsters want us to hear it should be taken with a huge grain of salt. Normally it isn’t. It doesn’t help that the polltakers can hide behind different labels proclaiming them to be independent or some such. Where’s the proof? Is there an independent polltakers institute that certifies poll-taking companies to be independent? Who could you get to fill that job? The Pope? Afraid not, even the Catholics use polls. Polls are a big part of everything from getting land rezoned to selling multimillion dollars product lines to getting politicians elected. The amount of bribery, payola and graft that goes on must be staggering. Even if your interest couldn’t buy their way to a favorable outcome it’s no worry. Make your own poll. Who is going to know?
Is Bush doing a good job? Check with the poll by:
“Responsible Educators Pursuing Unified Business Licenses In Companies Allowing National Security”
Surely with a name like that it must be true, nonpartial and working in the best interests of the American people.
For the sake of argument let’s say they are honest hard working people. Can a poll still be slanted one way? I’d say yes. If I walked up to you with a rattlesnake in one hand and a pack of gum X in the other and asked which you preferred, I bet nine out of ten would prefer the gum. When I run the commercial do I have to mention the rattlesnake?
Maybe, just maybe, it’s all on the up and up and it’s when the poll results are turned over to the people who paid to have it conducted that it gets skewed. That’s only natural, because they definitely have an opinion, and they want it to be yours.
DUCIBELLA, J (2005,April 25). Old Dominion debates getting into the football game. Retrieved November 8, 2007, from PilotOnline.com Web site: http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=85495&ran=33168
3 comments:
Well, at least we didn't pick the same story this week! Good perspective on polling issues here. I've personally never bought into them myself. Old Dominion football? I'd also have to agree that this would financially be a bad idea for that school at this point in time. I'll wrap it up by saying that you had a pretty decent post here (good supporting information, thought process, etc.). My only suggestion would have been to find some other examples of botched or biased polls to help support your argument.
I like the direction you're going here, and the examples you used were excellent. I would like to state, unequivocally, that there are some polls in which there *is* right or wrong, at least in my view (which is most of what I know). For example, if there was a poll today asking people about the U.S. invading Iran, anybody (majority or minority) who states "yes" is correct is just out of their minds. Completely. They're wrong. So in some cases I think you're absolutely right in that a "minority" distinction in a population can be construed as negative. But on a poll, the "majority" can be way off base, too.
Interesting post here. Keep making connections!
I’m going to have to agree with you here, it sucks but its true however this is the nature of things. When it comes to the War in Iraq however I don’t feel polling swayed that decision. I believe that the war was an emotionally based decision. After 9-11 everyone was ready for war, regardless what side they take on that decision now, congressmen and citizens alike. Now that time has passed suddenly nobody wants us in Iraq, unfortunately for Bush you cannot bring a country to shambles and simply abandon it; thus his approval raiding plummeted. Polls are a very effective tool when trying to swindle to opinion of others there is no doubt about it; these polls, in my opinion, are no more than a tool used to appeal to one emotions thus influencing their decisions.
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