Political Forum
     

Go Back   Political Forum > General Political Chat > Elections & Campaigns


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #11 (permalink)  
Old 04-24-2008, 07:58 AM
Ilithiad Ilithiad is offline
Observer
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 46
Ilithiad is on a distinguished road
Credits: 267
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Oxymoron View Post
I want to take a poll whether Polls are BS.

I agree polls are BS.. most if not all polls had Obama within 5 points of Hillary yet she wont by 9.2 points. Those polls were off by 4.2%. Apply that to all running polls for the next primaries and you will see who will win and who will lose. I predict Hillary will get 42% of NC and 48% of Indiana.
Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links
Red Cross - Donate Today    Save the Rainforest
  #12 (permalink)  
Old 04-24-2008, 10:03 AM
Tuatara's Avatar
Tuatara Tuatara is offline
Commentator
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Victoria BC
Posts: 1,078
micronesia au tasmania
Tuatara is a glorious beacon of lightTuatara is a glorious beacon of lightTuatara is a glorious beacon of lightTuatara is a glorious beacon of lightTuatara is a glorious beacon of light
Credits: 5,313
Default

The only 100% accurate stat


100% of all people will eventually die.
__________________
America's Enemies Are Not Mine

All wars represent a failure of diplomacy

“I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.” - Stephen Roberts.
Reply With Quote
  #13 (permalink)  
Old 04-24-2008, 11:10 AM
Sadistic-Savior's Avatar
Sadistic-Savior Sadistic-Savior is offline
Guru
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Denver, Colorado
Posts: 14,481
usa us colorado
Sadistic-Savior has much to be proud ofSadistic-Savior has much to be proud ofSadistic-Savior has much to be proud ofSadistic-Savior has much to be proud ofSadistic-Savior has much to be proud ofSadistic-Savior has much to be proud ofSadistic-Savior has much to be proud ofSadistic-Savior has much to be proud ofSadistic-Savior has much to be proud of
Credits: 86,014
Default

Quote:
Or are they just a way to try to sway public opinion through a following the mob sort of psychological tactic? More of them are wrong than right in the past two national election cycles.
Poll data is useful as evidence, but that is it. More often than not, polls are generally correct. Just dont rely on them absolutely.

Reputable polls try to sample a random portion of the population (typically a few thousand people or less) and then extrapolate that data to the rest of the country. Since they are randomly sampling, any result is technically possible. But the idea is that because it is random, you are getting an accurate microcosm of the country on a given issue.

Which is true. So polls are likely to be correct in general, but you never know since it is random. If you do a poll on slavery (for example) it is mathematically possible to get 1000 pro-slavery people in a random poll, even if it is extremely unlikely. The poll would show that America is pro-slavery, and the poll would be wrong.

For that reason, whenever I quote polls I try to quote several at once. An isolated poll is better than nothing, but still not proof of anything. 4 or 5 independent polls that say the same thing however, are likely to be correct.

So I accept polls as evidence to support an argument. Just not conclusive proof of an argument.
__________________
My Political Blog (Last post Feb 14) - My MySpace Page
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Election Polls f0ca1 Elections & Campaigns 419 04-14-2008 02:20 PM
polls commonsense Forum Help, Feedback, Etc. 4 03-02-2008 11:57 AM
Polls barney-fife Current Events 39 05-23-2006 08:01 AM
All the polls crucial-fiction Elections & Campaigns 49 10-17-2004 09:09 PM
Wow, the polls say something different? Printer2 Elections & Campaigns 21 10-06-2004 10:49 AM

Sponsored Links

All times are GMT -8. The time now is 08:46 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.1
Copyright ©2000 - 2008, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
LinkBacks Enabled by vBSEO 3.1.0
Template-Modifikationen durch TMS
vBCredits v1.3 ©2007 by Darkwaltz4
Advertisement System V2.1 By   Branden