Comments on: Choice blindness

By: Andrew H

Andrew H — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 16:19:32 +0000

All polls and statistics can be altered in favor of who’s paying the bills Just follow the money.

By: Alsadius

Alsadius — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 07:14:32 +0000

Most people don’t really care, haven’t invested much thought or identity in their answers, and can see arguments going both ways. Give me a 30-question quiz on just about anything twice in a row, and I’ll usually change my mind on 1-2 of them.

By: Mose Jefferson

Mose Jefferson — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 02:54:41 +0000

The U.S. mainstream media outlets such as MSNBC and especially Jon Stewarts Daily Show (because it’s viewers cannot distinguish comedy from news) have been suggesting that Romney’s campaign is floundering and stumbling and that he has had to fundamentally change tack several times. Their evidence for this? Because they (the media) have said it is so.

The power of suggestion: yet one more reason to severely limit the powers of government.

By: 2dogs

2dogs — Sat, 29 Sep 2012 22:37:10 +0000

I wonder if the targets are just engaging in conflict avoidance.

After all, I imagine many would only be there because they are being paid, certainly they would have little invested in the choices they made.

It’s less risky for them to invent a rationalisation then argue with the researcher, so that’s what they do.

By: Lee Moore

Lee Moore — Sat, 29 Sep 2012 13:49:43 +0000

The trouble with this is that one almost always agrees with the statement offered to some extent, and disagrees with it to some extent – or one doesn’t have particularly strong views one way or the other. Hence if forced to decided one way or the other, agreeing or disagreeing is a matter of weighing up how you feel about particular aspects at one time. It’s easy enough to come down the other way on another occasion. So if you opt for A and you’re later told you opted for B instead, justifying B is not really inconsistent with your original view.

Ask me if I agree or disagree whether, say, “the economy would work better if the government owned the means of production, distribution and exchange” and I think you’d struggle to fool me that I’d once answered “Yes.”

By: CaptDMO

CaptDMO — Sat, 29 Sep 2012 13:23:24 +0000

Which is why I often “test” the pollster whenever it becomes clear that the “poll” is a push poll.
(this includes medical “history” questionaires)
The validity, control, and confirmation ‘back up” questions, especially when attempting to “trap” moral opposition to the predetermined “outcome”, in (fill in the blank) format “quick” inquisitions, simply annoy me.

Failure to acknowledge recognition of the “I beg the question….” concept equals-NA. Twice means immidiate end of the “quiz”, and redaction of all other phishing “information” previously given, if possible.

By: Henry

Henry — Sat, 29 Sep 2012 12:29:05 +0000

The general public are sheeple with the attention span of a goldfish? How else could TB have gotten the keys to No.10 time & again.

By: Alisa

Alisa — Sat, 29 Sep 2012 10:09:41 +0000

Just goes to show how much most surveys and polls are really worth.