Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics

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Tiamat
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Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics

Post by Tiamat »

So I got a political questionnaire in the mail today from the district House representative. I've never gotten one of these before, so I was interested to see just what one of these things looks like. Enclosed was a series of the most horribly skewed set of questions I have ever seen, a patently obvious attempt by the Congressman to set up a Campaign based exactly on his personal political leanings that he can back with 'statistics' about his own public. The questions, of course, are all multiple choice with either 2 or 3 answers (an immediate warning bell if you've taken a class on drafting accurate questionnaires - you need 4-6 in most cases)

I thought I'd share a couple of the best with you guys, because I know at least some of you will appreciate it. Without further ado, the questions and my commentary:

5) Are you satisfied with your current health care coverage?
Answers: Yes, No, Not currently covered

This one didn't seem so bad until I realized that you can use "not currently covered" to skew the results towards yes or away from no by removing or including them in the data set.

14) Should amnesty for those here illegally be included in immigration reform?
Answers: Yes, No, Unsure

Once again, "Unsure" can be used to swing the tally, but hell, they don't need that because this question is more loaded than a Five Guys burger. Question is meant to be read by the general public as "should we give a free pass to CRIMINALS?"

23) The Federal Reserve has refused to disclose to the Congress which companies have been given trillions of dollars in bailout money. Should the fed be subject to a full and complete audit of its actions?
Answers: Yes, No, Unsure

TRILLIONS! TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS! DAMN THOSE FATCATS AT THE FE- oh wait Congress handed that money over in the first place. But hey, lets deflect some blame, shall we? And while we do that, lets paint the question to make the Fed look as though it is giving trillions of dollars to individual companies.

And finally, the crown jewel:

Foreign Terrorists captured on U.S. soil should be:
A: Given all the rights U.S. Citizens enjoy, including the right to remain silent
B: Treated as enemy combatants and questioned to determine whether they have knowledge of other imminent terrorist attacks

Well obviously if we give them rights they're never gonna talk! To the black boxes with them!

FFS, politics. -_-
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Graybeard
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Re: Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics

Post by Graybeard »

Tiamat wrote:Enclosed was [deletia] a patently obvious attempt by the Congressman to set up a Campaign based exactly on his personal political leanings that he can back with 'statistics' about his own public.
Well, duh.
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Sareth
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Re: Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics

Post by Sareth »

A few days ago I received a phone call from a political action group asking if I had the time to answer a single survey question. That was a big red flashing warning sign in the first place, but I agreed to listen and answer. The question was:

"Do you agree with the Obama Administration's socialist agenda for America?"

This is not the sort of survey question that you ask someone doing post grad work in communication.

I proceeded to very nicely reply to the woman on the other end of the phone by stating, "I'm afraid I'm unable to answer that question as it is a very poorly designed question. First, it operates on the assumption that the Obama Administration's agenda is attempting to create a socialist state and that we all would agree that is the case. Since not all agree with that assumption, it makes this question unanswerable. Second, the Obama Administration has a very large agenda with a great deal of items. Not even President Obama himself agrees in full with the current agenda, let alone anyone else. However, your question does not allow anyone to agree with some parts and disagree with other parts. Instead it creates an extremist positioning. Third, the question uses clearly weighted words intended to create a negative perception, as terms like "socialist" and "agenda" are often seen as very negative within the U.S. This results in a bias in the answers a more carefully considered question would be able to eliminate to a larger degree." I then smiled into the phone (I'm polite that way.) "I'm terribly sorry if I wasn't very helpful. I'm quite sure that wasn't the answer you were looking for."

In a quiet and meek voice she hurriedly said, "No, that's fine have a nice day." *click*
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Drannin
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Re: Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics

Post by Drannin »

Sareth? You ROCK.
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Graybeard
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Re: Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics

Post by Graybeard »

Seconded. No WAY would I have had the patience to sit there and explain why the poll was idiotic, and the pollster was an idiot. You're a better man than I am ... on this one, anyway.
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Imp-Chan
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Re: Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics

Post by Imp-Chan »

Having briefly worked as a survey girl, I kinda feel bad for them. Not all of their answers are auto-recorded, and usually they have to take dictation on any non-standard answer. That said, any responsible research company would never have asked that question.

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Tiamat
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Re: Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics

Post by Tiamat »

Thirded. Sareth is now my hero. Huzzah!
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Graybeard
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Re: Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics

Post by Graybeard »

Imp-Chan wrote:Having briefly worked as a survey girl, I kinda feel bad for them. Not all of their answers are auto-recorded, and usually they have to take dictation on any non-standard answer. That said, any responsible research company would never have asked that question.
Impy, do you really think that "survey" was one where they gave a rat's ass about "any non-standard answer"? There are surveys and surveys. Clearly that one wasn't legitimate political polling to get a sense of the way the political wind blows in the pol's district. It was a political operative of a particularly loathsome flavor.

Feel bad, if you wish, on behalf of pollsters who run into cantankerous old goats like me who don't like having their dinners interrupted (why do those people always call at dinner time?) to answer perfectly legitimate polls. Don't feel bad for the idiot that Sareth dealt with, because he, she or it was clearly not part of a "responsible research company."
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Sareth
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Re: Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics

Post by Sareth »

To be honest I did feel a bit sorry for the girl, as I wouldn't be surprised if she was simply a paid flunky trying to take home a paycheck. That's why I was *nice* about my reply. But yes, that sort of question can't be anything but an attempt to "validate" a certain political slant as being popularly supported. It wouldn't have been surprising to me if, had I said, "Sure, i hates that thar Obama administration an its commie ways!" they would have followed up with a request for a donation for their noble and glorious work. :P This is part of why, even though politics is the second biggest subdivision of study available in the department I'm a part of, I refuse to go near the political rhetoric classes. Ugh.
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Viking-Sensei
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Re: Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics

Post by Viking-Sensei »

Now, I considered myself to be a conservative (and maybe even a Republican) for some time, but since being conservative and being a Conservative are nowadays entirely different things (tell me one thing the previous Republican administration did that was "conservative") I'm having trouble finding a place for myself in the political landscape.

The people who formerly owned our house were dyed-in-the-wool Neo-Conservative Republicans... the sort that apparently donated money. Lots of money. And even though they vacated the location a good 2 years ago, we still get a diluge of their Neo-Con hate-spewing junkmail. I personally revel in those times they send the surveys, because I've started answering them in the most horrible, contrary manner possible in the hopes that it will skew their results.

So if they asked me "Are you for nationalized health care and killing kittens?" I would answer a proud "Yes".

I think there should be some rule about statistical accuracy - like, you have to post not only the questions (in full) that got you your answers, but you also have to give the outlying answers (like my own) which generally tend to get thrown out for "inaccuracy" for review.
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