Sample Polling Questions What is wrong with each of these methods? 1. Calling survey participants on the phone only from Noon until 3PM. Not a random sample! Biased towards women and elderly and against men and workers.

Sample Polling Questions What is wrong with each of these methods? 2. Asking survey participants to call in their vote. Not a random sample! Respondents are self selected. Only those passionate about the issue will call in or log on to vote. Answers will tend to be at the extremes.

Sample Polling Questions What is wrong with each of these methods? 3. Polling only a retirement home to gauge the nation’s views on health care. Not a random sample! Biased towards the elderly and against younger people.

Sample Polling Questions What is wrong with each of these methods? 4. Asking bald men what kind of shampoo they prefer. Not a random sample! Biased towards bald men and against women and those with hair!

Sample Polling Questions What is wrong, if anything with each of these questions? Some of these are OK! 1. What year in high school are you? –A. first/freshman –B. second/sophomore –C. third/junior –D. fourth/senior –E. other Not all 2 nd year students are sophomores

Sample Polling Questions 2. What is your age in years? –A. 15 or younger –B. 16 –C. 17 –D. 18 –E. 19 or older Not much is wrong

Sample Polling Questions 3. What is your sex? –A. Female –B. Male OK question

Sample Polling Questions 4. Some people don’t pay much attention to politics. How about you? Would you say that you are VERY MUCH INTERESTED, SOMEWHAT INTERESTED, or NOT MUCH INTERESTED in politics? –A. Very much interested –B. Somewhat interested –C. Not much interested –D. Don’t know Long and confusing; 1 st choice and last remembered; may give socially desirable answer

Sample Polling Questions 5. Generally speaking, do you usually think of yourself as a REPUBLICAN, a DEMOCRAT, an INDEPENDENT, or what? –A. Republican –B. Democrat –C. Independent –D. Other –E. Don’t know OK question, but question order needs to be randomized

Sample Polling Questions 6. After the recent murders by teenage mothers of their babies, there has been a lot of discussion about abortion. Which one of the following opinions best agrees with your view: –A. By law, abortion should never be permitted. –B. The law should permit abortion only in case of rape, incest or when the woman’s life is in danger. –C. The law should permit abortion for reasons other than rape, incest, or danger to the woman’s life, but only after the need for the abortion –D. By law, a woman should always be able to obtain an abortion as a matter of personal choice. A very biased, leading question!

Sample Polling Questions 7. How many days in the past week did you read a daily newspaper? –A. 0 –B. 1-2 –C. 3-4 –D. 5-6 –E. 7 Socially desirable answer may be given

Sample Polling Questions 8. When some people watch television they use the remote control to mute the sound during the commercials. or else get up and walk away or “channel surf” until the commercials are over. Other people pay careful attention to the commercials as well as the show. How about you? Do you ALWAYS pay attention to the commercials, USUALLY pay attention, SOMETIMES pay attention, or NEVER pay attention to television commercials? –A. ALWAYS pay attention to commercials –B. USUALLY pay attention to commercials –C. SOMETIMES pay attention to commercials –D. NEVER pay attention to commercials Long and confusing; 1 st choice and last remembered

Sample Polling Questions 9. When you were growing up, did your parents think of themselves as Democrats, Republicans, independents, or what? –A. Democrats –B. Republicans –C. Independents –D. Other –E. Don’t know “or what” adds confusion; also, question order needs to be randomized

Sample Polling Questions 10. Are you registered to vote in Arizona? –A. Yes –B. No, but plan to –C. No, don’t plan to –D. Don’t know Socially desirable answer may be given

Sample Polling Questions 11. How likely is it that you will vote in the 2008 Arizona elections- would you say you will DEFINITELY VOTE, PROBABLY VOTE, PROBABLY NOT VOTE, or DEFINITELY NOT VOTE in the 2002 elections? –A. Definitely vote –B. Probably vote –C. Probably not vote –D. Definitely not vote –E. Don’t know Long! 1 st and last answer bias. Socially desirable answer may be given too

Sample Polling Questions 12. Whom do you prefer in the 2000 Presidential race? –A. Republican, George W. Bush –B. Democrat, Al Gore –C. Reform Party, Pat Buchanan –D. Green Party, Ralph Nader –E. Other –F. Don’t know OK question, but question order needs to be randomized

Sample Polling Questions 13. Whom do you prefer in the Arizona Board of Higher Education race? –A. Republican, Amanda Neuman –B. Democrat, John Robinson Response bias- There is no “don’t know” option; more commonly a range of options is given:

Sample Polling Questions 14. Whom do you prefer in the Arizona State Mine Inspector race? –A. Republican, James McDonald –B. Democrat, John Smith –C. Other –D. Don’t know OK question. Response bias if there were no “don’t know” option

Sample Polling Questions 15. Would you favor adding a law to the Constitution to prevent any President of the United States from serving a 3rd term? –A. Yes –B. No –C. No Opinion

Sample Polling Questions 16. Would you favor changing the Constitution to prevent any President of the United States from serving a 3rd term? –A. Yes –B. No –C. No Opinion “adding a law” is much milder/less radical than “changing the Constitution”. Many more said “yes” to adding a law

Sample Polling Questions 17. The leadership of the U.S. military favors keeping troops in Iraq. In your opinion, should the U.S keep troops in Iraq? –A. Yes –B. No –C. No Opinion Invoking authority- “leadership of the U.S. military”, soldiers are very well respected; also, there is no middle option such as “yes, but troop numbers should be reduced from where they are now”

Sample Polling Questions 17. The leadership of the U.S. military favors keeping troops in Iraq. In your opinion, should the U.S keep troops in Iraq? –A. Yes –B. No –C. No Opinion A range of options is more typically given: Strongly DisagreeDisagreeUndecidedAgreeStrongly Agree

Sample Polling Questions What is wrong with each of these polling questions? 1. “Would you say that Bill Clinton clobbered Bob Dole in the last election?” in a postelection poll. “clobbered” is a biased, leading word; it is also open to interpretation

Sample Polling Questions What is wrong with each of these polling questions? 2. “Do you like the President?” in a presidential approval rating. Leading question. People are reluctant to say they “dislike” a person, including the President. Instead they are asked “Do you approve of the President’s job performance?”

Sample Polling Questions What is wrong with each of these polling questions? 3. “Whom did you vote for in the last election?” to assess partisan affiliation. People vote for the person not the party more and more. They may vote one way for President and another for Senator (“split ticket” voting).