Issue polls are so suffused with bias who knows what they really mean? One recent poll says Americans favor a surge in Afghanistan. But two others say completely opposite things about a time table for Iraq withdrawal: An ABC-Washington Post poll of 1,119 adults shows voters divided 50-49 percent for a timetable for withdrawal. However, the Quinnipiac poll of 1,725 likely voters finds 51-43 percent against a timetable.
When pollsters call my house I almost never respond. Like most busy people, I don’t have time for them. And when I do respond, I usually end up arguing with the questions. Of course, the poor soul on the other end has not a clue of what I mean. He/she is just doing a job that few of us would want. I don’t enjoy sounding elitist, but what I imagine occurs with these kind of polls is that the most informed people do not answer them. Well, it’s a democracy, so I suppose I shouldn’t complain about that. Sometimes a gut reaction is better than being informed anyway.
Meanwhile, one of the worse aspects of buying something these days (especially something major) is that you are almost always polled to death by the vendors. Right now I am being bombarded by Toyota (by phone, mail and email) about my “Prius experience.” Again, I don’t have time to respond and get irritated. [Maybe they should read this blog.-ed. Maybe they should.]
What’s really irritating is that when you buy a new car, they not only barrage you with surveys, they charge you for it. I once had an item on a new-car sticker that was $50 for “post-sales evaluation” or something like that. (My satisfaction would’ve been higher if I’d paid $50 less.)
Anyway, I’m sure I could give interesting replies to surveys if I took them, but luckily, I learned years ago not to answer the phone. (What a relief.)
For those who do answer, I figure they’re bored, lonely, or they make stuff up. Not very scientific in terms of questions or answers.
Scott
I routinely lie to pollsters and surveys. I especially enjoy lying to political phone calls that employ “pushed” questions.
After ten seconds, you can tell what the caller is after. So I lie to both the Republicans (come over as a bleeding heart liberal) and the Democrats (I can do a nice imitation of a position to the right of Hitler).
I lie on merchant’s surveys. I lie when asked whether I’m satisfied with this phone call.
I conceive that one of my missions in life is to get polling discredited.
A Noble Ambition, indeed.
I have never been contacted by a polster. Never.
Caller ID is the most misunderstimated invention in the history of the telephone.
The one time they got me, they had what sounded like the voice of a very young girl. After regaining my composure, I told her I was not interested and hung up.