Web Logs
5/12/2005 - Bad Polling
Bad polling seems the rule rather than the exception -- especially political polling. All to often when I'm confronted with various questionaairs via the Web or telephone, I find myself stiemied by their leading questions and narrowly allowed responses. For example, this online quiz to test one's "Republicanism" asks in its first quesiton:
1) A woman's place is:
- in the home.
- in the home, but sometimes you need a second income and she has to work.
- in an office, hopefully a corner office.
- in the House. And the Senate.
- at my feet, screaming for mercy.
- towering over me with her spike heels digging cruelly into my bleeding back.
- with her sisters, working and raising strong womynchildren.
- in a House, such as Madame Kitty's Home for Wayward Girls (gentlemen visitors welcome).
Sorry, but my answer is "where she want to be" and certianly none of the above. Now I know the above poll is more for entertainment than any real data collection, but sadly I've found many "real" polls to be little better. Consider the new one from the respected Pew Research Center which is supposed to catagorize one's political ideology. I knew there would be trouble when I read the instructions:
"To identify your typology group, we will show you a series of paired statements. Even if neither statement is exactly right, choose the one that comes closer to your views, and identify whether you feel strongly about that issue, or not so strongly."
But I proceeded to the first set of paired questions where I found:
| The best way to ensure peace is through military strength | or | Good diplomacy is the best way to ensure peace |
Sorry, but the ONLY sensible answer I can give is that you MUST have both military strength and good diplomacy -- any other strategy is doomed to failure in my opinion ( speak softly and carry a big stick, if you will). As this was not an option, I sat grimacing at the screen for a few moments before grudgingly choosing "Good diplomacy is the best way to ensure peace" assuming they were trying to gauge my feelings specifically in regard to the war with Iraq.
This absurd shoehorning of my ideology continued until the little quiz that couldn't proudly declared me a Left-Wing Liberal.
Uh, no.
I'm a libertarian - a very different beast. I'm fiscally quite conservative, usually hawkish on defense, and socially very liberal and secular. I have no love for the "Great Society", welfare, or most social programs -- nor any devotion to morals based upon mysticism. In very, very general terms I usually favor the Republicans because I find their onerous laws easier to break than the Democrat's.
I suppose my whole point in this post is that it's really easy to classify people when you:
- Ask leading questions
- Provide narrow leading responses
- Start with the assumption that our Nation's two-party system is an acurate reflection of American's ideology.
For example, consider this "scientific" poll:
Question: Adolf Hitler was:
- A talented politician.
- A dedicated family man.
- A talented politician AND a dedicated family man.
Your Rating: (regardless of which you chose) Thank you. Our poll indicates you admire Adolf Hitler.
