Tag Archives: Polls

Pollsters use leading questions to manipulate the uninformed

While critics have admonished pollsters and the press for disseminating inaccurate portrayals of public opinion on important national issues, they have generally ignored perhaps the most serious and intractable problem in this endeavour — a poorly informed American public. Polling … Continue reading

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Can media be trusted to accurately report polls?

Reassurances from pollsters on the accuracy of results are suspect due to an obvious conflict of interest.  They’re marketing their product. The press also has a conflict of interest.  Media organizations often commission these polls.  Can you remember the last … Continue reading

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Raising the Debt Ceiling: a Nation Divided, or Is It Just the Polls?

Polls have not done a good job of communicating public opinion in the debt ceiling debate.  In fact, they made a bad situation worse. Creating the perception of a divided public The polls would have you believe that half of America … Continue reading

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How Polls Influenced the Outcome of the 2011 Canadian Federal Election

Canadians gave Stephen Harper’s Conservatives a majority government in possibly the strangest election in Canadian electoral history.  Conservatives ended up with 167 seats, 24 more than before, while both Liberals and Bloc Québecois were demolished with their respective leaders, Michael … Continue reading

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What Did Polls Really Tell Us about Public Opinion on the Obama Health Care Bill?

Polls on the Obama health care reforms bill raised troubling questions about the validity of their results. In particular, how did the American public answer polling questions about this complex piece of legislation when, by their own admission, most said … Continue reading

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How Polls Divided Americans on Obama’s Health Care Reforms

In theory, polls on the Obama health care reforms were supposed to measure public attitudes. In fact, they helped create them. How did this happen? What were these polling fictions? How did the tail end up wagging the dog? The … Continue reading

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Polls, Privacy and Security: a Betrayal of Public Trust

How were millions of Americans recently persuaded to accept outrageously invasive body searches at airports while voicing the most muted of protests? I mean we’re talking about the land of the free, the home of John Wayne, where citizens covet … Continue reading

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Polls and Pat Downs: Questionable Results and Misguided Narratives

An ABC news/Washington Post poll recently reported that two of every three Americans (64%) supported the use of full body x-ray scanners. The same poll also found that half of all Americans (50%) said that “enhanced” pat downs were justified … Continue reading

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