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Originally Posted by PsYcNeT
Again, you're misrepresenting the polling result/methodology to push your own agenda. You can't obfuscate the way polling data works and dismiss it just because it represents something different than your expected outcome.
Additionally, the CPS poll was of 1,000 people
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I must have misremembered. Or perhaps I was thinking of the internal survey. At any rate, most folks, like me, who don't understand statistics, tend to find fault in the poll size. Of both polls. I have since learned more about stats, and still wonder about the results, but I'm learning.
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which, assuming it is legitimate and not handpicked or doctored, is statistically similar in weight to the Mainstreet poll.
That said, I'm always inclined to believe a poll conducted by a neutral party over one conducted by a party invested in claiming public approval. Live surveys as well tend to skew positive over automated surveys.
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Which is what I'm told is the big thing when it comes to stats. How/where/when are the people polled about what they are being polled about. Right after a major news incident? Randomly, out of the blue? What age brackets? How many in that age bracket? It all makes a difference, it all affects the poll, and can be used to 'swing' the poll the way you want, if you are so inclined.
What made me, personally, question that exact poll was that it touted that there is a 48% dissatisfaction rate, but of the 6 questions asked, only one dealt with satisfaction.
"Thinking about the CPS, do you approve or disapprove of the way they are doing their job." Then had the various approve/disapprove options.
How many people actually understand what is involved when it comes to police work? I felt like getting the answer to that question doesn't really prove anything, but what the media's been doing lately. It'd kinda be like asking "Thinking about PsYcNeT's company, do you approve or disapprove of the way they are doing their job." Most people have no clue what's actually involved in a job unless they've done it. So asking if they think that the person doing the job is doing a good job is pretty pointless, since they don't have the reference points available to make a good call on that. "Well, NASA got the guy to the moon and back. Guess they are doing a good job. Oh, wait, a rocket exploded recently, no, no, they aren't doing a good job."
Asking that above question might as well be asking "Thinking about the CPS, what's the news want you to think about them lately?"
What if that original question had been asked/the poll run right after (or up to a week after) the Garland verdict was announced, instead, say. I wonder what a Mainstreet Media poll would have shown then, for instance.
That Mainstreet poll, and the things I learned after it about stats/polling, really made me wonder about the use of polls in the first place.