Political Polling Question (not political)

Pizzagirl
Wed, 03 Feb 2016 16:04:40 +0000

Online polls can cut it if they aren’t self-elected / opt-in. It’s like when you see a poll that says “Is Obama helping or hurting the country?” only those people who feel passionately one way or the other answer - the answer isn’t representative of the population at large.

And I particularly hate when news media trot out “focus groups” where they pick 8 people in Iowa or whatever. They are truly amateurish at it – you use them to gain insight into hypotheses, emotions, attitudes, beliefs and practices, but only a fool says “I’ve talked to 8 women in Des Moines and now I know …” They make real, true market researchers cringe with how they misuse the tool.