Read the following article. What are political polls? What kind of information do they give? Why can polls give different results for the more or less same question? To what extent should polls be trusted? Why is the language used in a poll important? What makes for a more accurate poll? Based on what you read, construct your own question regarding a current issue and how would go about conducting a poll to insure an accurate results.
22 Comments
Mitchell Aiken
9/26/2012 01:51:56 pm
Political polls are used to make an educated guess about how votes will turn out, they have them for everything from Props to who will win the presidency. The article talks about how wording in polls can drastically change the way people respond. One example they gave was if people in the 1970s would allow communists to give speeches, 22% less people agreed when they used "forbid" instead of "not allow." Polls are only general indicators of how something will turn out. They can be accurate, but it's important to look at more than one on any given subject because there are undoubtedly certain ones that could be influenced by something else. If I were to make a poll I would ask: "Do you think there are circumstances in which people should have certain rights taken away (besides jail)." That way I'd be able to avoid any bias that might come from asking about a controversial topic. (Gay marriage, taxes on "1%," etc.) Then I would ask them about a controversial topic to see if and/or how much their opinion changes.
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Dana Cronin
9/26/2012 02:58:07 pm
Political polls are percentages that are released to the public that broadcast how well something is supported. For example, a presidential election poll will tell the percentage of Americans who support Obama vs. Romney. A political poll based on a Measure or Bond will show the percentage of the population in support of it. However, polls can often be misleading or provide faulty information based on various factors that can skew the data. One cause for misleading data can be the targeted audience or responders to the poll. For example, when the data are gathered from those who have cell phones, the result will be mostly based on younger voters from more diverse backgrounds. Similarly, the way questions are worded have a big impact on how people respond. Describing a measure using negative diction can influence ones response, thus skewing the polling data in favor of your side. Polls should be trusted only when you have researched how the data was collected, who they asked, and the objectivity of the pollster. Language is another important factor in conducting a poll. It can often mislead responders or sway them to one side or another purely based on what they have just read rather than their well thought-out beliefs. A more accurate poll can be ascertained by using objective diction in the question, and questioning a great variety of people from all different backgrounds, asking different groups in different manners (i.e. cell phone, email, landline, in person...).
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Jessica Cendejas
9/27/2012 04:01:38 am
Political polls are polls which predict an outcome of a vote. One thing that really skews the results may be the wording. I agree with Dana. Political polls are solely predictions and estimates and should not be trusted unless it is stated how the data has been collected, and whether the people who have participated in the political poll actually vote. Right now, a major issue in St. Helena is leaf blowers. If I were to conduct a political poll about leaf blowers. I would phrase the poll question like " Should leaf blowers be permitted to disturb the environment and clean air in St. Helena?" to imply a conotative feeling towards leaf blowers making it seem negative in the question itself. However the people I would interview for the political poll would be the people who I know which would be my peers. This poll would be highly inaccurate because a lot of the people at school can't vote .
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Danny Brink
9/27/2012 07:49:24 am
Political polls are pre polls for the government to see how well something is favored or opposed. I agree with what the author Joe Garofoli says when polls can be skewed compared to the actual results of the election because if polls are taken over the phone, the people hardly remember everything that was said. So the information political polls can give over the phone aren't always accurate. On the other hand, the new online polls will allow the people to read the props, which will give a more accurate percantage on the results. This will allow us to trust polls more and give us a heads up on if the prop will be passed or not before the actual election takes place. I think using an online system like orange county is an excellent technique for polling to get a more accurate reading. Also, i agree with Mitchell that the wording and language of the polls can drastically change the result of the polls, simply by saying one or two wrong words. If I would create a poll, I would simply take into account backgrounds from every ethnic group and eliminate all the bias. I wouldn't take a poll by calling people, this would be too inaccurate according to Joe Garofoli, I would conduct this poll online to ensure the highest accuracy of results.
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emeli crispin
9/27/2012 08:18:50 am
political polls are polls that know whats best for the people around them.yeahh i agree with dana too!. it allows communists to give speeches and their own oppinnion about them.
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Jessica Bernal
9/27/2012 11:43:58 am
Political polls are used to assess the public’s opinion on different things through a variety of questions. In the end the results are put out by different forms of media for the public to over look and show the preference of one thing in comparison to another. Polls may give different results for the same question because various factors play a role in the outcome of a “survey”. The audience the poll targets is a factor because if only one group of people with nearly the same view or age are surveyed as opposed to a diverse group the outcome of the result will only reflect one groups opinion not a large group of the public. Also, if the questions include words with negative connotation the audience is more likely to select the option that sounds “less harsh” rather than their actual opinion. That is also why the language used in a poll is important. The method the poll was conducted may also be a reason for the result of a poll. For instance, if a poll is conducted through cell phones the end result would most likely reflect the opinion of a young and diverse group of people. I don’t believe polls should be trusted completely because none are fully accurate. For example, one poll may only have 15 responders while another one may have 50 responders, leading the results to show different outcomes. An accurate poll would have to involve different groups of people in age, opinion, and background. It would also have to be given through various methods like phone, online, and person. If I were to conduct a poll on a current issue I would ask something like “Should same sex marriage be allowed?” The only answer options being “yes” and “no”. I would ask different groups of people through different communication methods (phone, cell phone, personal interview...)
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Joey Brink
9/27/2012 01:47:33 pm
Political polls are basically pre votes for who America thinks who will become president and votes on how people think the propositions will turn out. I think these polls can easily be misleading because not everyone from every audience votes on the polls so the polls can often be Skewed. But as Mitchell said, the polls can still be accurate, they only give us a general idea of what America thinks about a the Presidential elecion and the propositions. Polls should still be trusted to some extent, but people should know that the poles aren't always 100% accurate.
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Andrea Gomes
9/27/2012 03:49:15 pm
A poll is a survey of public opinion. For example, the political poll shows the percentage of people in favor of Romney and the percentage of people in favor of Obama. Polls may give different results for the same question because opinions are constantly being changed or skewed depending on how questions are asked or how information is presented. For example, the question "Should St. Helena High bring in a drug dog because students are suspected of having drugs" would cause more people to be in favor of the drug dog than would the more neutral question "Should St. Helena High bring in a drug dog to search the campus." Like Joey and Dana stated polls are not 100 percent accurate; therefore, they can not be completely relied upon. People who work with polls have found that online polls are more effective because they allow the reader more time to analyze the poll and make a more educated decision. Recently, a man came to my house and delivered information about that prop the school is pushing for in order to get funding to build a new auditorium. I believe that personal deliveries are an effective way of putting people in the know.
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Clair Amador
9/28/2012 04:59:38 am
political polls ask questions to get the peoples opinion on certain subject matter. Obviously if the same question is asked to different people the answer is going to be different. Because of this, the person giving the poll can manipulate the outcome by only asking specific groups of people. The poll giver can also get a desired response by phrasing the question differently to provoke various emotions from the person taking the poll, these emotions can effect the answer that the person gives. In order to get a more accurate and unbiased poll outcome, it is good to ask all kinds of people from different areas.
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Melanie Gouveia
9/28/2012 08:22:04 am
Political polls are polls that ask voters who and what they are currently favoring and not favoring to vote for. These polls give us information to the candidates and anyone interested in the political campaign on what citizens in the United States want to see as their leader and what laws they would like to be added or not. Polls can result differently than others even though they imply the same question because each different poll has different respondants in different areas, so the more variability in the voters the more variability will show in the results. The language of a poll is important because if the language a candidate uses during a speech towards a group of voters is offensive to their personal beliefs, it could sway the voters in favor of the opposing candidate or law. For the language used in the poll itself, if the question or answer choices uses harsh or complicated words, the voter might get confused and choose an answer choice at random. What makes for a more accurate poll is a poll taken by likely voters, cell phone users, people from diverse backgrounds and young adults from urban areas. I would conduct a poll online, but only make it so that one person could vote only once. Technology is what drives this generation today, so having a poll online for many diverse people to vote on would gather an assortment of data from people across the country and not just in a secluded area. The poll should be pretty accurate, but a 100% accurate poll would be highly unlikely.
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Katie Artigas
9/28/2012 01:40:37 pm
Political polls are polls that are designed to expose the general opinion of topics of a political standing such as laws or campaigns for presidency. These polls give an approximated percentage based off of the target population of the website, town or other pool of voters. Most importantly they show favoring for certain bills. Polls can have different outcomes due to diverse backgrounds, age, location and bias associated with the wording used in the polls questions. Polls shouldn't be trusted unless they are posted from a neutral source with a large voter pool with diversity in age, location and background. The language and wording is important to remain unbiased and produce unskewed results. An example of an unbiased survey question is: Should the state continue funding healthcare or reduce the funding in the budget in 2013? This question implies no harsh consequences for wither side and addresses the problem bluntly. There would have no emotional response bias. This question would be given to a voter pool of different ethnic backgrounds and age groups in ensure the percentage doesn't exclude any social group to create more accurate results.
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Tara Beltrami
9/28/2012 02:06:43 pm
Organization that call various segments of society to get their opinion about something. They make graphs to records the responses to the question. they predict the measure will pass or not on a ballot.
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Joseph Davis
9/28/2012 02:51:01 pm
Political polls are used to generate data based on the public opinions a certain political campaign, usually in a specific population. They serve a number of functions including providing both the candidates and the public a picture of what the voters are thinking, allowing the candidates to spot pockets of undecided voters, and identifying what issues the public finds of major importance.
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Audrey Dappen
9/28/2012 03:38:22 pm
A political poll is a tool used by political parties to see what propositions or issues have a high percent of the population either for or opposed. They are not always accurate because when taken over the phone many people will either completely blow them off because they don't have enough time or not pay attention while the poll is being described. Online polls are more likely to be closer to accurate because the people taking it will be able to read the exact contents of the poll and go back to see what was said instead of having to have an interviewer repeat the question multiple times and are less likely to get frustrated. The problem with these is that not many people will go and actively look for them on the internet when they can be doing more productive or entertaining things. The language of the poll is also imprortant, many people today don't like to sound either too harsh or too uninformed. Harsh wording can easily scare or sway someone taking the poll because they don't want to sound mean or judgmental. But also sounding too soft or uninformed makes the poll seem more like a sham.
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gaby gonzalez
9/28/2012 04:18:40 pm
political polls is a prediction outcome of a vote. alsopolls is a way for a government to see how things are functioning either if people arein favored or opposed to whatever there voting for.also its a way for communists to give thwir speeches or opinion. polls shouldn't be trusted because there not always 100%accurate.i agree with audrey about language of poll being important because its true now in time people dont want to sound too harsh or too uninformed.
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Matteo A.
10/1/2012 07:55:05 am
Political polls are used to evaluate percentages of the population in order to yield results determining the majority and minority in favor or not in favor for a proposition. More and more ballots are being digitally completed by the general public, as the M4 Strategies in Costa Mesa are only using online poll surveying. It seems more affective because it gives each person plenty of time to answer the ballot instead of being question over the phone or at a polling center. Sometimes being in public or on the phone can rush people and give off a negative vibe. The problem with online polls could be the scandals from internet hackers who seek to disrupt the trustworthy results of the ballot measurements. But I believe they should still be treated seriously and trustworthy until an upset occurs, if it ever does. The language used in polls can change a persons results as stated in the section of the article labled, "Examine the wording of questions," the conclusion showed how the turnout of live interviewing impacted how the person voted on the ballots. A current issue I would like to examine would be the involvement of government in the marketing of food and the increasingly high obesiety rates. I think an online poll should be conducted, like the M4 strategies, to create more healthy foods for Americans to consume. Somehow we should begin to conduct a law on the portions of food we eat daily, and incorporate all the healthy necessities. Many families across the United States don't have enough money to buy healthy foods and the government should be able to supply them respectfully to the size of their family. That could be a big issue in the future.
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Danny
10/10/2012 06:52:19 am
TITO!!!
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Michael
10/10/2012 06:53:01 am
BANDITO!!!
Michael Crean
10/2/2012 01:58:41 pm
Political polls are tools used to pridict the outcome of votes, either in favor or opposed. They are used for a wide range of subjects including props or the presidential election. In the article the author, Joe Garofoli, explains that polls can be skewed compared to the actual results of the election due it's wording, creating an emotional bias instead of clear and knowledgable poll. I agree with this because if polls are taken websites or on ballots, people can read it at there own pace and maybe read it a couple times to insure their understanding. If info on polls are give over the radio or over the phone, the people hardly ever remember what was said in detail; making them unreliable. However, the new online polls will insure more accurate percentages. I agree with danny and mitchell that syntax and diction can influence results of polls, and if i where to create a poll I would create one that was knowlegable, clear and to the point. Eliminating bais and propaganda that will negativley influence people, creating a pathway for the most accurate percentages.
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Michael Crean
10/2/2012 01:59:46 pm
Im using my GOOF for this blog! for got to include it.
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kevin bnkson
10/10/2012 06:35:08 am
political polls are used to help to show what the majority of the people are voting. I think these polls can easily mislead people because not everyone votes on the polls so the polls can often be kind of messed up. the new online polls will allow the people to read the props, which will give a more accurate understanding on the results. All of these strategies are set up in a way for organization to try and create a chang in polling. i agree with Michael Crean "that syntax and diction can influence results of polls, and if i where to create a poll I would create one that was knowlegable, clear and to the point."
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kevin bankson
10/10/2012 06:36:06 am
i GOOFED..................................:(
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