Article quote:
Some of the doubts are about pollsters’ methods. Do they ask the right questions? Are they manipulating the wording of questions to get the responses they want? And whom did they interview? Some of the doubts are wrapped up in a mistrust of the political parties, marketers, and media giants that pay for the polls.
But it is precisely because of our respect for polling that we are disturbed by many things done in its name. When interest groups commission pollsters to ask leading questions to gather “scientific” proof that the public agrees with whatever demand they are making on government, they demean polling and mislead the public.
Polling is a tool, not a principle. The authors in this issue come neither to praise nor to bury polling. They do, however, acknowledge how important it has become in our democracy. They stress Ronald Reagan’s “trust but verify” rule.
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/polling-public-opinion-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/
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I had a personal experience with a "poll" back in 1978. The Ford Pinto accident/fire happened 20 miles from where I lived. One year later a law suit was filed against Ford. One day after dinner I took a phone call and the person said this was a poll but didn't say for whom. The questions were worded in such a way that it made me seem anti-manufacturer and eventually anti-Ford. I cut the pollster short and said "you're trying to affect a possible civil trial jury" (my mother was a federal court deputy clerk and I was sensitive to this kind of game). The pollster coughed and tried to move in another direction. I told the person I resented what they were trying to do and hung up the phone.
Edited by
indianadave4
on Tue 09/04/18 08:15 PM
