Political Polls and Surveys

[Elessar]

What is the forum's opinion on these things?

I get 2 to 3 a week, fill them out and return without a donation.

I put in a note that I do not feel I have to pay to be able to express my opinions

[Drummond]

What is the forum's opinion on these things?

I get 2 to 3 a week, fill them out and return without a donation.

I put in a note that I do not feel I have to pay to be able to express my opinions

My opinion is that nothing, absolutely nothing, has greater value than REALITY.

Political polls and surveys are only as good as the way they're run. Are the questions asked, balanced and neutral enough, to guarantee a fair response to them ? What about the sample size ? What about the environment one is conducted in ... for example, would a political poll be primarily conducted in an area, or areas, favouring one side far more than the other ? Or, would it be top-heavy with people of a particular age group ?

These things can be skewed. Or, they could be time-critical, where the questions asked quickly lose their relevance, because time and events have moved on, evolved.

So I regard these polls with a level of interest, but also some skepticism.

In my part of the world, political polls predict the likely winner of an election, and degree of win ... sometimes accurately, and sometimes INaccurately. Theresa May was convinced by our polls to hold an election, on the strength of their predictions that she'd get an increased number of MP's out of it.

In fact, the polls were all wrong. She didn't gain any, she LOST some. Her Commons majority was almost wiped out, literally overnight.

Polls are overrated. That's my belief.