Tag: polls

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POLLSTERS: DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL ME

Do you believe in polls?  Sometimes I do, and sometimes I don’t.  Like most people, I believe what I want to.  If I see a poll favoring my candidate of choice, I’ll hope it’s right.   On the other hand, if a poll favors a disliked candidate, I’ll doubt its accuracy.  When I am asked to take part in surveys and polls,  I always decline.  Pollsters: don’t ask my opinion, don’t tell me  your skewed results.

Pollsters: Don't Ask, Don't Tell Me which candidate I favor
Pollsters use landlines, phones & the internet to invade our privacy.  Pollsters: Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell me

Most  polls are conducted  via cell phone or landline.  Those are possibly the most irritating calls one could receive.  Anyone with common sense refuses to answer calls from an unfamiliar phone number.   Consequently,  A  poll  based on the opinions of those who do answer doesn’t really tell me anything.

Many polls are taken over the internet.  Poll takers and politicians invade my Facebook, Twitter, and Email accounts.  If I log onto various online  news reports, I’m often  interrupted by a question about   Donald  Trump or Joe Biden.

The bad part about answering a survey or poll is that you’re now on someone’s sucker list.  First, you will be inundated with requests for contributions.  Next, you’ll  receive numerous newsletters and e mails meant to alarm and enlighten you .

How do these people get access to my social media?  I’m  tired of spending so much time deleting them.  I click on unsubscribe, and beg them to leave me alone, to no avail..  No, I don’t want to hear from their relatives, either.

Back to the accuracy of polls.    A poll is just a picture of what people are saying or thinking on a particular day. Voters are fickle. They can easily change their minds the next week or month, depending on current events. For example,  the coronavirus pandemic. Or the protests after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis..

Every day, the polls tell us which candidate is favored,  disliked, or disapproved of . But you know what?  I’d just as soon believe the odds coming out of Vegas.

Pollsters:   Stop calling  me during dinner,  or any time at all.  Discontinue invading my social media online.   Don’t ask what I think or tell me how I feel..

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WHY POLL TAKING IS OBSOLETE

The only people who believe in the benefit of taking polls are the organizations that take them. It has  been proven time and again, especially in the last presidential election, that polls aren’t reliable.  I’m sure some polls are accurate if they show a huge majority in favor of a certain  political candidate. But in a close election?  Not so much.  There are reasons why poll taking is obsolete:

 

Polls aren't nearly as accurate as they were 20 years ago.
90% of people don’t answer their phones.

90% of people don’t answer their phones.   Remember when it was exciting to hear the telephone ring?  Unless it happened to be a wrong number, it was always from someone you knew.  Now, no one in their right mind automatically picks up their  phone when it rings. Most of us receive six or eight spam calls a day on both our landline and our cellphones.  To answer is a big mistake.  So, if someone does decide to speak with a stranger, there’s something a little bit unusual about that person.  Maybe they’re incredibly lonely. Or just not playing with a full deck.  Whatever the reason, I wouldn’t trust the validity of their answers to a poll.

Only about 35 to 40 percent  of registered voters in the United States actually vote.  And so, if you’re polling that group, you have approximately a one out of three chance that the person you’re talking to is actually  going to vote at all.

Why don’t people in the USA turn out for the vote?  It’s hard to say.  Maybe it’s because too many people believe the polls.  Voting is easier in some states than it is in others.  In states like Indiana, where we have early voting, it’s not nearly as difficult as in states that  only allow same day voting. And so, if the polls say  your favorite candidate is going to win, you might think there’s no point in going to the trouble of voting.

Often, I’m asked to participate in online polls.  That’s the last thing I  would ever do.   Why not advertise your political leanings over the internet?  It could be downright dangerous.  At the very least, you will be bombarded with requests for money to support your candidate of choice.  Don’t you get enough e mails already?

If you really want to know who is going to win the election, your best source is probably with the bookmakers.