Bush hits a new low

[Cicero]

Originally Posted by theotherguy

The first day of my collegiate statistics class, the Prof said, "Welcome to Statistics 101. Also known as lying with numbers."

I am not saying whether the particular numbers in this thread are right or wrong, but I start to lose interest when sources are quoted stating that, "50% of Americans believe..." or "9 out of 10 doctors..." Don't like the first data set compiled by our research? No problem. We can start over again and again until we get the desired result.

I only really take one set of these things seriously, "30 Helens agree..."

This is exactly what happens. I did this for a living and no I'm not proud.....and I myself, am also more inclined to believe the statistics from 'kids in the hall'. You don't even have to start over again by the way- you can lengthen or shorten the research period. Even down to the millisecond. Only 'targets' get to answer the questions that have predetermined answers. The respondent doesn't even know in most cases that they are being "qualified" in the first answer set. If you are not qualified your answers go unused and are not even submitted. They will tell you that that is the end of the poll and thank you for your time and go try to find a more "qualified" person. Did you know that in most cases, your answers do not exist if you don't make $100,000 or over a year? (qualifiers, questions, and answers are entirely dependent on the client company) Well I'll just say that there are many ways to manipulate these polls and it's a very detailed process, each poll is designed by the client company. The client company tells you what they need and you produce the results. Period.
The only halfway honest polling I have seen come from this is the company that wants to know your impression of them, and wants to see if the majority have caught onto their illegal activities and law-suits and in conjunction, what effect that has had on their image. Is our new environmentally friendly ad campaign working? Even then they still shoot for brand recognition. Example: "So- what is you impression of Coca Cola?" Coca Cola, Coca Cola. etc. etc.
Aaah- people can believe what they want. I give. One of my friends still does it. He has nicknamed himself "the wizard" for a reason.