How Accurate are Polls?

The owner of a company that conducted political polls pleaded guilty on charges of wire fraud after it was found out that the company was falsifying poll information. Poll data was altered to meet customer requirements and in some cases the data was totally made up. The company's customers included the campaigns of President Bush and that of Sen. Joe Liberman.



You can't turn your head these days without hearing about some poll saying this or that. How many times have you heard a news report that begins with the words "An new poll shows......". Ever wondered how accurate these polls are? How many people make make their choices on Election Day based off of one of these polls? Now we find out that at least one company was falsifying their data to meet deadlines and may even have been customizing their results to their customer's wishes. If one company has been doing this can we trust the rest of them? The article stated that this company's management told their employees to "ask cats and dogs". Personally I have never put much faith in polls because it is too easy to get a desired result by how you word the questions. An example of what I mean is a question like "Have you stopped beating your wife?". If you say "yes" it can be construed to mean the you used to beat your wife and if you answer "no" it can be construed as you do beat your wife. Remember this article the next time you see a thread on ATS that begins with "Polls show........".