The thing is, what the NOM did was not credible research. A real research company that is publishing results wouldn't do what they did. The only thing the NOM could have done with their numbers was put them in their own ads, or quote them in speeches.
Credible research will strive to avoid these problems and will be upfront about what the methodology was. That's why I was saying before that a margin of error is no problem.
I just can't imagine how anyone can guarantee that the people who are doing the questioning don't put any inflection in their voice when asking the questions.
They have different ways of trying to get at that. Sometimes they pre-record questions. Sometimes they have supervisors listening in to make sure things go as planned.
But it's not so much about inflection as it is about inflection to the point of leading you in a certain direction. In the example I posted about in #38, that was a deliberate attempt. That wasn't just a human speaking with normal intonation. It was really like someone almost yelling the word "ONE!"
I got the same call again in January, when there was a big rush to try to get same-sex marriage approved before the governor left and the new one came in. So, I was glad to have the chance to see that I didn't exaggerate anything in my memory of the first call.
Yes, that's true. I know that there are a lot of measures they can take to try to keep results as accurate as possible, and in that way we can feel pretty good about polls that are done by reputable companies. And then the fact that they can measure and report the bias also helps. But it's definitely more of an art than a science and it's true that things can go wrong.
Yes, your example was an extreme. I've never heard one that intense before myself.
It's just that, sometimes people respond to vocal inflection even if it is subtle. Again, I'm not saying that the whole poll thing is useless, just that it shouldn't be taken as written in stone.
I only recently got "Caller ID" on my phone, and it helps me to avoid calls from telemarketers, charities, and politicians.
If I see that the ID says something like PUB INT (for public interest), I ignore the call. I do the same any time that the ID shows UNKNOWN CALLER. Once in a while a number appears that might be from the same area code as a relative or friend, and I may pick up the phone by mistake. Here's what happened yesterday: The phone rang, I thought it was a relative calling, and I answered. As I said "Hello" I heard the sounds of a "boiler room"; that is, I could hear that a large number of people were speaking in the background as the caller asked "Mr. NorthAmerican?" Then I said "Hello?" and "Hello?" again as the caller spoke my name twice more. Then I hung up. He would have thought that he had a bad connection.
Other times I use a method somewhat like the one VinnyD described earlier: I just say, in as few words as are necessary, that I don't have time to speak, and if they start to object, I hang up.
If you hang up, they can call back. The best thing to do is say "please put my on your do not call list." Then they're not allowed to call back.
Diana, I have two telephone numbers, both of which are registered on the national Do Not Call List. Various organzations ignore the prohibition and call anyway. I know that I can pursue legal action against them, but it's easier to (a) not answer the call or (b) hang up when I realize the caller's purpose in calling.
