Seriously, how can opinion polls still have credibility? Do you or anyone you know and respect answer polling questions any more? Who even bothers? Who wants to spend work time or personal time answering polling questions? It’s tedious and, frequently, an utter waste of time. So many polls are not even trying to be fair and ethical. Anyo…
Seriously, how can opinion polls still have credibility? Do you or anyone you know and respect answer polling questions any more? Who even bothers? Who wants to spend work time or personal time answering polling questions? It’s tedious and, frequently, an utter waste of time. So many polls are not even trying to be fair and ethical. Anyone with the money to spend can order up a poll to say whatever is desired. There are so very many ways to skew a poll - the time of day the calls are made, the wording of the questions, where the questions are in the poll, the area code of the phone numbers called, and on and on. Even the legitimate polls by reputable pollsters are suspect because of the kind of person who will take the considerable time to answer questions. Perhaps an even greater problem is reluctance of people to answer a call from an unknown number. There are so many scammer calls now and even saying “Hello” confirms your number as a good number with a human being on the other end and guarantees your phone number will be on lists of “good” numbers.
Polling companies seek out people who indicate they are willing to answer polls. I know because I used to be one of the ones who said yes. The polling company didn’t do any screening on me or ask me any questions. They were happy to get a warm body. I could answer by phone or online. After only a few months I got fed up with giving away my time so polling companies could make money.
Yes, polls can be an indicator of individual opinions but they are not infallible predictors of our fate. They have become part of the doom machine, designed to make us lose hope and give up the fight. Don’t. Let it spur you to sign up to work for a candidate. There is still a whole year to go. There is still time. Do something useful with it.
Seriously, how can opinion polls still have credibility? Do you or anyone you know and respect answer polling questions any more? Who even bothers? Who wants to spend work time or personal time answering polling questions? It’s tedious and, frequently, an utter waste of time. So many polls are not even trying to be fair and ethical. Anyone with the money to spend can order up a poll to say whatever is desired. There are so very many ways to skew a poll - the time of day the calls are made, the wording of the questions, where the questions are in the poll, the area code of the phone numbers called, and on and on. Even the legitimate polls by reputable pollsters are suspect because of the kind of person who will take the considerable time to answer questions. Perhaps an even greater problem is reluctance of people to answer a call from an unknown number. There are so many scammer calls now and even saying “Hello” confirms your number as a good number with a human being on the other end and guarantees your phone number will be on lists of “good” numbers.
Polling companies seek out people who indicate they are willing to answer polls. I know because I used to be one of the ones who said yes. The polling company didn’t do any screening on me or ask me any questions. They were happy to get a warm body. I could answer by phone or online. After only a few months I got fed up with giving away my time so polling companies could make money.
Yes, polls can be an indicator of individual opinions but they are not infallible predictors of our fate. They have become part of the doom machine, designed to make us lose hope and give up the fight. Don’t. Let it spur you to sign up to work for a candidate. There is still a whole year to go. There is still time. Do something useful with it.