Polls

[Cricket]

I have a problem with political polls. It is not that I am against the idea of polling but when the media tells us that x percent of Americans is for the same thing that x percent is against they never give us the names and political leanings of those who conducted the poll, the exact questions asked, how many Americans were polled, the age groups or the demographics. It's like the point of sale sign in the mall that says "75% off" - 75% off what? In all my life I have never been called by a pollster and nobody I know has been polled either, so why don't they care to know what I think about anything? My phone number is out there.
The other thing about polls is that they not only can be terribly inaccurate but 180 degrees wrong. For example, all along we have been hearing that the majority of Americans are not in favor of the health reform. As it turns out (I read this in today's CQ Politics by Martin Kondracke) "13 percent of those opposed said the bill was 'not liberal enough'. Add them to the 39 percent in favor, and the balance came out 52 percent in support and 43 percent against". That other 13% wanted an even more liberal bill. So now which poll am I to believe?

[Tripoli1711]

There are 3 types of falsehoods:  Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics.  Polls usually fall in the 3rd category.

Some polls are well done, and if you take time to go to the site of the polling agency, there is typically a .pdf you can download that gives the actual question asked, the breakdown of who answered by age, gender, political affiliation, etc.

In my experience, never trust a poll that just says they asked "1000 adults".  They are typically not very scientific in the way that they breakdown by ideology and you also get a lot of people who aren't even registered to vote answering.  Those people on the whole tend to be woefully uninformed about the actual issues.

But overall, polls, just like statistics, can be made to say whatever you want them to say.  If you pay attention and find the .pdfs, you can start to discern which polls are the most trustworthy and objective.