Polling Data

As someone who is somewhat versed in statistics, I find the media's fascination with polls to be....fascinating. It is truly amazing how many polls tell different stories and how some data is outright manipulated. It is also an interesting American (possibly international, but definately American) phenomenon that people want to be part of the middle or average. For whatever reason, if you tell somebody to answer a question yes, no, or maybe, they will usually choose maybe.

I can't explain why this is, but it does help to answer alot of questions about how insignificant polling data is.

For example, I was looking into polling data on the issue of abortion. One poll, conducted at the beginning of the month suggested that about 15% of this country believes that there should be more restrictions nationwide on abortion. 33% believes that abortions should only be performed in the case of rape, incest, or when the woman's life is in danger. Another 15% believes that only an endangered woman's life warrants a legal abortion, and 5% say abortions should never be legal. This is a rather nondescript question more subject to "middling" as some people might call it.

On the other hand, in a poll conducted in April by Fox News/Opinion Dynamics suggested that 72% of respondents believe that children (women under the age of 18) must require the consent of their parents to receive an abortion. A CBS News poll in July confirms this. This issue is less subject to "middling" because it is a specific question.

The news media should use less polls to attempt to figure out what they want to know, because until they are done correctly, they won't reveal anything