Inspired by the Ig Nobel thread...

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h00!

I was so impressed by the poll about polls that I had to give it a 'cool' rating. Bravo for the topic =D> =D> =D>

I like polls because it is eaiser to get poeples generally opinion with out having to ask and getting long long responses......they get to the point!

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"Astronomy is not merely a hobby or a study, but a way of truly seeing and understanding the vast and magificent universe in which, by some extraordinary event, we exist."

I wonder who casted a vote in this poll for polls being stupid.

I took the not exactly cool option. In general they're o.k., but we get carried away with them too often for my taste.

The problem with these kinds of polls is that people with a stake or interest in the question are the ones more likely to answer such that it skews the results big time. It doesn't really give an indication of what the BA people are thinking.

A case in point: There is a Seti@home poll asking who is using Seti@home. I venture that only the Seti@home enthusiasts would be inclined to answer this. Who would take the time to respond to a poll on a topic they have no knowlege or interest in? ('Course they do suggest someone else may be interested in the topic.)

So there is another possiblity here. That I haven't a clue what I'm talking about.

RBG

I voted stupid. For fun like this i like them, but in the real world thewy are evil. No matter what your poll syays you can always, always twist it to make your side look better. The "news media" polls constantly given out on the major news stations are the worst. They nbever say how many they polled, where they polled or how they chose the people. Heck i've never seen them say how they polled the people. All of these enters a certain bias.

What really makes me laugh & cry at the same time are the news media polls (especially telephone polls & especially, especially phone-in polls) that go on to present their findings with great authority literally ignoring their own quick little cover their *** disclaimer "This is not scientific but..."

RBG

Another case in point: The poll in this thread asks how often people view the board. But the people who view the board less often are less likely to be here to answer the poll and so the results end up skewed towards the more frequent side.

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Freedom For Fission A breath of fresh Iodine-131

Polls are usually engineered to support the beliefs of the one taking the polls. Well, that was what I was taught in Political Science. I did sleep through a lot of lectures tho.

Sniff, sniff--You are picking on my poll--sniff sniff.

OK, I am over that now.

I think that a better case in point from Phils description of the moonhoax video, where it claims that 20% of Americans believe we never went to the moon. I agree with him that it would be interesting to know their definitions of terms, and how many people they asked.

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Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future.

--Niels Bohr, Danish Physicist.