tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3856837.post8052659270723029511..comments2023-10-24T09:06:30.200-04:00Comments on No More Mister Nice Blog: Steve M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11963290427258439242noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3856837.post-11311586214820236792013-11-07T19:18:03.297-05:002013-11-07T19:18:03.297-05:00As an ex professional marketeer my experience is s...As an ex professional marketeer my experience is similar to NY Crank.<br /><br />Often the questioners simply don't know or care.<br />That doesn't mean that some or a lot of party polling isn't conducted by people who know who the client is <br />As for answering the questions I am sort of like Aimai as in I'm deliberately unhelpful. I play games/ waste their time and ask for lots of clarifications, constantly putting overly lengthy qualifications to answers. In short use anti sales techniques ensuring that my answers will skew their error factor.Bounce answers all over the spectrum.<br />In fact when surveys ring home my wife hand them over to me with the comment "for you... Play Time !".<br /> Examinatorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08990595916031900662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3856837.post-89034884839758115022013-11-07T18:02:26.181-05:002013-11-07T18:02:26.181-05:00I only did survey work very briefly one summer, a ...I only did survey work very briefly one summer, a long time ago (1980), but I don't recall that being privileged information.Steve M.https://www.blogger.com/profile/11963290427258439242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3856837.post-15816556258528573592013-11-07T17:11:14.609-05:002013-11-07T17:11:14.609-05:00As the ex-husband (for 25 years) of a notable and ...As the ex-husband (for 25 years) of a notable and highly respected market and opinion research maven, I can tell you with some assurance that the answer-takers for most legitimate polls have no idea who the sponsor is. They are sub-subcontractors, hired by a subcontractor, who only knows what research firm hired them, and not who the ultimate client is. One reason for doing this is to keep the answers (and the questioners) bias-free. whether you're asking about political candidates or pitted prunes.<br /><br />Sorry, Steve and Victor. You have a neat theory, but it may not fit the facts.<br /><br />Crankily yours,<br />The New York CrankThe New York Crankhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04489472134701718697noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3856837.post-42039368995748932562013-11-07T11:28:31.908-05:002013-11-07T11:28:31.908-05:00I also have very funny conversations with fund rai...I also have very funny conversations with fund raisers. But I think I'm just a difficult person.aimaihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03956073425680585780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3856837.post-42927764998833509652013-11-07T11:20:33.410-05:002013-11-07T11:20:33.410-05:00Of course, aimai, YOU would! ;-)
Many of the res...Of course, aimai, YOU would! ;-)<br /><br />Many of the rest of us aren't as smart as you are.<br />Victorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06609452382111686086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3856837.post-50596424331040862562013-11-07T10:58:58.921-05:002013-11-07T10:58:58.921-05:00I've definitely asked who was sponsoring a pol...I've definitely asked who was sponsoring a poll, or privately speculated to myself and answered accordingly and combatively. I don't feel any obligation to help right wing politicians figure out what to do to win an election, and I prefer to do my best to spread disinformation and even attack the premises of the poll. And that goes double for polls that purport to be about one thing but arre really about some other corporate or political goal. <br /><br />I'm rather sympathetic to the possibility that as the public has become more savvy about how they are manipulated by polls and by politicians that they push back and try to take some control over the process. Its very annoying and disheartening to be bombarded with polls that are used to tell you how " normal" or "average" people think about a topic when you feel so strongly that you have right or principle on your side. And I don't think that feeling is at all limited to right wingers.aimaihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03956073425680585780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3856837.post-45790268734189969132013-11-07T10:40:54.142-05:002013-11-07T10:40:54.142-05:00You're welcome.
The first time someone asked ...You're welcome.<br /><br />The first time someone asked me who commissioned the poll, you could have blown me off the plastic stool with a feather.<br /><br />I always checked who did, for myself, to see just how stupid and dishonest the poll I was calling about that day was.<br /><br />And to give credit where credit is due, many of the polls we did were very straight-forward, and unbiased (those weren't the McLoughlin or Rasmussen ones, though - those were biased trash, for the most part).<br /><br />But the ones that weren't unbiased - hoo-boy!!!<br /><br />I've written about them before, so I won't bore people with the details.<br />Especially, the 'Push-polls!"<br />Vile.<br />Really, really, vile.Victorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06609452382111686086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3856837.post-32436187868877949062013-11-07T10:38:19.593-05:002013-11-07T10:38:19.593-05:00I assumed the lopsided polling ended up hurting Mc...I assumed the lopsided polling ended up hurting McAuliffe by dampening the sense of urgency that off-year Democrats tend to need to turn out.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3856837.post-21425086505100360942013-11-07T10:12:05.603-05:002013-11-07T10:12:05.603-05:00Thanks, Victor -- I added an update directing read...Thanks, Victor -- I added an update directing readers to your comment. Very interesting to learn (from someone who knows) that some right-wingers actually do this.Steve M.https://www.blogger.com/profile/11963290427258439242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3856837.post-28691278211994960872013-11-07T09:49:19.171-05:002013-11-07T09:49:19.171-05:00Hmmmm..... interesting point, Victor. I've ne...Hmmmm..... interesting point, Victor. I've never asked who's commissioned any polls I've answered, but I can at times tell whose agenda it serves by how the questions are phrased.<br /><br />Of course, I don't answer polls now anyway, since all my phones have caller ID and I refuse to pick up anything with an 800 prefix or "unknown caller".Never Ben Betterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17814767173601107270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3856837.post-36602019558835510142013-11-07T08:32:36.138-05:002013-11-07T08:32:36.138-05:00More people than I expected were poll-savvy when I...More people than I expected were poll-savvy when I did some part-time work calling for a Republican polling outfit, for almost a year, before the '10 election.<br /><br />Before answering my questions, they'd ask who had commissioned the polls - and, if it was someone like John McLaughlin, or Rasmussen, they'd answer. <br /><br />If not, then I often got turned down, even though the poll was commissioned by some Conservative group or politician or other.<br /><br />Certainly, not everyone - but enough so that I was taken by surprise by the question, at the beginning.<br /><br />When I answered polls over the years, it had never occurred to me to ask who had commissioned the polls.<br /><br />Maybe that was something circulated in Conservative circles, because I'd never heard of, before answering, asking who was commissioning the polling from any Liberal groups.<br /><br />So, from that, I suspect that Republicans do self-skew polls - their own, and others.<br /><br />And I won't even mention the number of people who hate being called, and then openly lie, to skew the poll on purpose.<br /><br />Victorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06609452382111686086noreply@blogger.com