Sunday, June 18, 2006
The absurdity of polls
Why do newspapers run on-line polls and surveys? They are often unrepresentative, easily manipulated and open to abuse, even by the newspaper themselves. They can give a quick and easy headline but who really believes their outcome other than the gullible?
A good example of the absurdity of these polls is the one currently running on the icwales website. They are asking people who will win Blaenau Gwent. So far the voting is:
Independent Trish Law 10.47%
New Labour 6.40%
The Tories 74.81%
The Lib-Dems 6.59%
Plaid Cymru 1.36%
Someone else 0.39%
I voted of course, but if the result ends up anything like that I will close down this blog immediately.
A good example of the absurdity of these polls is the one currently running on the icwales website. They are asking people who will win Blaenau Gwent. So far the voting is:
Independent Trish Law 10.47%
New Labour 6.40%
The Tories 74.81%
The Lib-Dems 6.59%
Plaid Cymru 1.36%
Someone else 0.39%
I voted of course, but if the result ends up anything like that I will close down this blog immediately.
