Thanks for all the kind words in the previous posts. I hope that the course meets expectations, but I realize there are some skills that still need worked on...ie: reading and understanding.
First, find a political opinion poll related to health care, the wars in Iraq & Afghanistan or Obama's Peace prize.
a. Explain the poll--if possible, provide a link
b. Analyze the poll--how is it fair, not fair
c. Propose changes to the poll...what other questions would you ask.
Lastly, how will the increasing role of technology affect politics? What changes do you foresee in the future & what problems will technology create for future elections?
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Posting from the fireside in Michaux State Forest:
ReplyDeleteAnd now to tackle the exciting world of opinion polls. Naturally, I will be using a Faux Ne-- I mean, Fox News poll because Sean Hannity was kind enough to send me a letter. =)
This poll claims that a majority of 'Mericans oppose the health care reform and other stuff being proposed. Faux News is doing the survey, after all.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/10/02/fox-news-poll-opposition-health-care-reform-grows/
[There's a link to the actual poll about halfway down the page as a PDF file]
First off, they're basing the opinions of our country of 300 million or so on the views of 900 FRACKING PEOPLE. 900. AARGH. That illustrates why polls are #2,586 on the List of Things That I Hate. Also, oddly, they interviewed more Dems than GOPs, (Independent? What's that?) Perhaps they are Fair and Balanced. *looks at O'Reilly* Perhaps not. Actually, us Independents appear to be the ones that tipped the scale, if you will (more Independents are opposed to this kind of thing).
Something interesting they asked is how much more people would be willing to pay for their health insurance in order to provide it for everyone. 60% (according to these loons) are willing to pony up to help out other people. Intriguing, no?
If I had to change this thing, I would do my best to ask more people. 900 just doesn't seem like enough; I know they tried the best they could, though.
~Heather "double secret probation" Williams
Okay, this is Jamie from period four.
ReplyDeleteThe poll I found is from 2006 and is about the oposion of the war in Iraq. Here's the link if anyone wants to check it out -- http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/08/21/iraq.poll/
(Oh and by looking for a poll about those topics I found out that only about fifty two percent of people want to take the swine flu shots, hm interesting)
The poll that I found was a big deal because it was the highest opposition that CNN had ever polled (mind you this was a few years ago so that number may be even higher now). Anyhow, the poll surveys 1,033 adults and out of that number a small percent of 35 percent favored the war while 61 opposed it.
I don't necessarily think the poll was fair. However I can't tell why. Haha. I had the link to the actual poll because it was in the first link however I must have copied the wrong first link because now I can't find it. However, the results of the poll are still there. The poll was worded in a way that would not make you WANT to chose to favor the war. However, I suppose a bunch of polls have that problem.
I would ask the question straight forawrd, no adjectives or la de da crud. Just straight to the point. Maybe just a simple, Do you support or disagree with the war? Yes - No? Too much wording gets people thinking differently and changes what they really believe...well in some cases anyhow.
Eh the role of technology will most like mess everything up. You see it already, not with politicals but with everything else. Problems with kids hacking in and changing grades, or cheating. Its the same concept. As technology increasses in our society elections will most likly be able to just have you vote right from your house & computer. The problems with this is that then someone, just like that kids at school, could easily change stuff. There leads to a lot of problems. The internet and technology can be great, but can also be incredibly terrible as well.
@Heather,
I agree with your very last paragraph. I don't think any poll really asks enough people. There are so many people in the world, as well as the USA. So why not poll more of them. Sure not all people are cooperative, but who are they really? There are so many people that those that aren't cooperative matter to some extent, but not when there are several thousands more to ask.
Josh Firestone pd. 1
ReplyDelete1) I found a poll that basically, trys to get your overall opinion on president Obama after his first 200 days in office. Then poll asks a few basic personal questions, and then asks some weird questions about your computer.
http://surveyg2.pollingpoint.com/vv9mxftVpwTH2B#
2) I think that the poll I found is fair it doesn't ask biast questions and it covers all opinions, even the one Mr. Hoover stresses the i don't know or have an opinion.
3) I think the poll does a good job in going over the basics of President Obamas 200 days in office but i believe that it needs to go more in depth and ask for opinions on things Obama has/has not done, and awards he has recieved (bull crap)!
4) The role i think technology will play in politics is that it will give public officials an easier method of finding what the publics opinion is. Which of course leads to changes in public policy. The problem i see with this is that it may not be an accurate assesment of public opinion. Another issue is if we ever have online voting i think that the elections in our country would no longer be valid or fair.
Josh Firestone pd. 1
ReplyDelete@Heather
I agree with you when you say that the poll was wrong in saying 60% of Americans are willing to help pay for others. Yeah Right!
@Jamie
I would agree with your idea that the poll wouldn't be fair because CNN did it and they are usually more liberal just like Heathers poll by Fox News which was probably a more conservative poll.
St. Clair Simmons Pd. 4
ReplyDeleteI used a poll from the Huffington post about Obama's Nobel Peace Prize, and if people think he deserved it (yet). Of the three choices answering the question of if he deserves it, "Yes, he's an inspiration to the world", "Maybe", and "No, it's way too soon for this type of honor", there were 47.97&% who voted for the first, 16.15% for the second, and 35.88% who voted for the third.
I think the poll is quite fair. Looking at the Huffington Post's readership, the audience is quite diverse. Plus, the poll wasn't given to a specific group--it's a public poll.
As far as changes, I don't think I'd make any. It seems to be a pretty straightforward question/answer poll.
I think technology will greatly affect politics. Now everyone will know more but still nothing abut politics. It makes politics easier to follow, having it at your fingertips.
@Josh,
ReplyDeleteI'd have agree with everything you said about technology especially when it comes to errors and things starting to be a little fishy. Haha, I don't see how that would work. I mean think about it. Kids and adults now abuse the tech. if it gets larger maybe it might get more efficient but odds are as it grows it will just leave for more openings for people to mess with. But oh well, haha I agree with you.
Savannah Gilmore pd. 4
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/25/us/politics/25poll.html?_r=1
This poll was fairly straightforward in asking how the public feels about Obama's health care plan. The poll asked, "Do you mostly support or mostly oppose the changes to the health care system proposed by Barack Obama, or don't know enough about them yet to say?" Almost half of the people polled replied that they did not know enough.
I feel the poll is perhaps guiding the person a little towards saying they don't know enough. It sort of forces the person to contemplate how much they know about the plan. It would've been better to just say, "How do you feel about Obama's health care plan?" and give the options.
Politics have already started to become more technology driven. Obama used the internet to his advantage during his campaign with pretty good results.
@ Jamie
Not too surprised to see that many oppossed to the war. I'd be interested to see how those numbers had changed since the war began.
@ Heather
Yeah, obviously the big problem with polls is how to get a fair reading of an entire population with only 900 people.
Kyle pd. 4
ReplyDeleteI'm going to assume that i found the same poll as St. Clair did because all the results were the same. So let me start off by saying this:
Off of the Huffington post i found a poll on whether or not Obama should have received the nobel peace prize or not. Almost 50% said that yes he did deserve it, about 15% for maybe and 35% said that he wasnt deserving as of yet.
I must agree with st. on this one. The poll seems to be very fair, but i dont know much about the huffington post's readers to determine how diverse they maybe, but i assume that they know what they're voting on.
Once again St. has a good opinion. I say keep the poll the way it is. It's fine and very simple just the way people like it.
I think that tech. will change the way we look at politics but not greatly. People will be able to follow politics more easily, but it will still be a boring subject to most.
@St. Clair
Great find. :) Great opinions!
@ josh,
lol stupid polls with the "i dont know" option! lol XD
Grant Brown
ReplyDeletePd. 1
a.) The “poll” I picked is one that took the results of other polls asking about Obama’s healthcare plan and graphed the results to compare and contrast them. More than 50 polls were used, so I believe that it’s pretty accurate. http://www.pollster.com/polls/us/jobapproval-presobama-health.php
b.) I believe that it is extremely fair, based on the sheer numbers of responses that they got- I think it represents the public’s opinion very well because of the wide range of polls it pulled information from.
c.) Because it isn’t really a poll but more of collaboration of different poll results (all the polls were of the same type), there isn’t one question I can pinpoint, however I visited several of the polls where the information was drawn from and they all seemed relatively unbiased.
Lastly, with technology (as we all know) there are always cons to the pros. While I’m sure initially it will help by making voting easier and having information more readily accessible, there are always going to be unforeseen problems where we all just turn the computer off, wait 5 mins, and turn it back on again.
St. Clair - I think that the poll you used, while I’m not doubting the validity of it, at least to me sounded a little biased with the questions they asked. The “inspiration to the rest of the world”, “maybe”, and “doesn’t deserve this honor” all seem kind of nicely put to me. Now it may just be this is my skewed perception of it, but I think they should have had more of a blunt “No” and more of a simple “Yes”, because people could agree or disagree initially, however then disagree with the later reasoning in each answer.
Heather – props for posing first. I’m with Jamie on the 60% business, they only way they can make that claim is if they polled every single American, which you already stated they didn’t. Also, its fun to read your posts. (I’m in a good mood so I though I’d share that.)
Hey Mr. Hoover, I was just going through my files for the summer work that is missing and I don't know which ones you need... If you know which ones are missing, other than the essay A that I know was not there because I remembver the pile started with B, could you just post on here or something to let me know? Thanks,
ReplyDeleteStefon
Abby Eldredge pd. 1
ReplyDeleteok so I found a really vague healthcare question. It was asking adults if they approved or disapproved of Obama's healthcare actions. here's the cite: http://www.pollingreport.com/health.htm
I believe the poll is fair in the sense that there is that 3rd option of unsure for those who don't care! Hoover seems to stress that importance a lot so that is a good thing. It is more unfair than anything because it is so vague. The question isn't specific to exactly what part Obama's healtcare actions are approved or disapproved upon. It also says that it is only polling adults but not which adults. It could be based on any adult that cares to answer the poll rather than the actual population so it could be an extremely unbalanced sample.
I believe the poll should be more specific in every aspect and have a fair sample group rather than just anyone. It seems a little too balanced in each category to be true. It is also based on dates rather than groups of people so how can we tell if it is reliable?
Lastly, I think technology is good for maybe those who are disabled and can't get out to vote. It should help elections because those kinds of people and the one's that are "too busy" or lazy will have no excuse but to vote. This will make the elections more realsitic. It could hurt sometimes because super genious people will increase the risk of unfairness.. they could hack in and sway votes. The internet is not very reliable so there are many ways it could malfunction or candidates could win unfairly by people tampering with the system.
@ st clair. I found that in most of the polls! we cannot be certain who the actual sample is so it could be very biased.
@ sav. I had a poll question similar to that and the results were different so it seems that yours may have been a little biased!
War in Iraq:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.pollingreport.com/iraq.htm
A. The polli s simply stating that the war in Iraq was important with a 66% strongly agreeing at the beginning of the War. It had increased since May to 67%
B. Well they polled 1003 people. I think that is odd, not in the sence of unfairness but doesn't it make sence to just not poll those three people?
C. I really wouldn't change much other than the fact of taking out those three people that I feel have no great importance.
I think that the internet will help or hurt politics because everything is on the internet. It takes just a matter of seconds for something to be posted on facebook and myspace, and that reaches thousands. I would like to recall on Friday Night, when we had that crash in Dover. I remember being on Facebook and freaking out when I heard the news. Imeadiatly everyone was talking about it, we were all trying to get the information from each other, hoping someone knew more than the last person.
@Kyle
I disagree with you completly about how much politics will change, they are always changing, even back in the early years...News never traveled as fast as it does now.
@Jamie
I agree with you agreeing with Heather, they don't ask everyone so then how do they really know what we want.
Annelise Williams, P.4
ReplyDeleteI found a very basic poll regarding Obama's Nobel Peace Prize. It asks whether or not you agree with him winning the prize, or if you're unsure about the matter. The results aren't any more specific than that, so here's a link:
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/10/09/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry5374127.shtml
I think the poll itself is fair, since the results you can choose between are very basic and the question is worded simply. If they actually typed more than a few sentences, though, I'm sure we could find bias. I'd say that the website its own causes bias, but I'm not good at keeping track of what news program says what so all hope is lost.
If I were to change the poll, I'd put more options with longer answers. Maybe a 5 point scale--Five for definitely agree, 1 for definitely disagree, 3 for somewhere in the middle, and 2 and 4 for leaning towards one or the other.
Also, I'd take off the comments option, since no one will take your opinions seriously with a username like "TheSkirtLifter".
Ken Wisman Pd. 4
ReplyDeleteMy LONG adress about Obama winning the Nobel paece Prize is:
http://polls.newsvine.com/_question/2009/10/09/3364945-is-president-obama-deserving-of-the-nobel-peace-prize?GT1=43001
My poll dealt with President Obama recieving the Nobel Peace Prize.....and apparently it seems that the people don't think he deserves that acheivement because he hasn't really done anything to help the United States. The poll has a large number of votes too, which allows it to be somewhat fair....unless some idiot keeps hitting the 'doesn't deserve it' button.
The poll has recieved 411,719 votes and here's the results. Only 24.3% of the voters believe that Obama deserves it,61.5% of the voters think he didn't,13.6% think he'll eventually deserve it, but not now and.....heh heh heh heh.... here's the best part, .6% of the voters aren't sure. I think that the poll is pretty fair, I mean what did he REALLY do for us Americans....nothing that's what. Heck I could win that awrd if the criteria was that low....that'd be so awesome.
I really wouldn't change this poll because it is fair and the question is a good one because it's not one-sided.
Technology, in my mind, is a gift that was meant to be used for everybody, including the elderly and disabled, to make their lives easier. So I believe that technology would be a good thing to have in future politics. Technology would allow many more people to vote and this could lead to better turn-outs in the polls. If they could improve the voting registration and make voting online easier, it would let so many people be able to vote without the hassel.
@Heather
I agree with your spasmatic response to the extremly low amount of people who polled because it wouldn't lead to a fair turnout if only .1% of Americans where heard and the other 99.9% weren't.
@Abby
I completely agree with what you said about how technology allows more people to vote. People could vote from work, their house or their phone if they wanted to and this would really increase the voter turnout.
Annelise Williams, P.4
ReplyDeleteAaaaand I totally forgot to answer the last question. Derp.
Technology is good for spreading news on politics fast and reaching towards the younger generations who know how to use these confounded devices. However, political news may fall on deaf ears that way, since some 'younger people' won't understand it. This being said, I kind of hope elections don't go fully-internet, due to certain groups on the internet who would love to jeopardize results. We wouldn't want Rick Astley as president, would we?
@Heather: I agree that polls don't ask enough people. I think that they should put the poll on a website everyone goes to if they want to collect a bigger opinion of the masses.
That's right, they should put it on Google.
@Tish: Agreeing on technology. Information spreads faster through cyberspace, so it definitely helps with that.
A. This poll is called "President Obama's Handling of Health Care." It compares this week to last week.
ReplyDeleteLink: http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/09/11/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry5302288.shtml
B. It is fair, it's just people's opinions.
C. I would ask what you thought about Obama in previous months. People may say that they don't agree with his plans but that may just be because he's a democrat too.
Technology has given candidates more ways to reach people. I think it affects politics because candidates can be criticized even more online. I can see changes like the candidates for different elections can try to use the internet more to their advantage with the use of Youtube and other things. I don't think it will cause any problems though.
@ Josh- It will be easier to find out public opinion with technology.
@ Kenny - voting will probably be easier with new technology. as long as their isn't any fraud.
Danni
ReplyDeletepd 1
This is a poll about making gun laws stricter. (http://www.gallup.com/home.aspx) Its just saying how less and less people think that gun laws need to become stricter.
b. I guess you can say it is and isnt fair. I mean with laws that arent that strict you could have people acting a little crazier. at the same time if the laws become too strict less and less people are going to actually own a gun.
c. In reality i bet you that half the people who took this poll probably dont even own a gun. So the inly thing i would change about it is the fact that i would ask actual gun owners.
I mean i guess you could say public opinion could be easier to actually know with technology but the only problem would be for Americans to get rid of their old ways and start fresh.
@Annelise
yea ok information does go faster through cuber space bu there is always that possibility that something gets lost or messed up.
@Taylor
Candidates can reach more people i will give you that but in a way that doesnt always mean that they will reach them in the right way!
Robert Schmuck, pd. 4
ReplyDeletehttp://www.pollingreport.com/prioriti.htm
a. This poll concerns the opinions of people in regard to this country's priorities. It asks, "What do you think is the most important problem facing this country today?" 45% said the economy/jobs, 20% said health care, 7% said war/peace in general, 3% said the war in Afghanistan, 3% said the budget deficit/national debt, 2% said Iraq, 17% said some other topic, and 3% were unsure. This was a poll of 829 adults nationwide, with a margin of error of 3.
b. As far as I know, this poll is fair. The biggest factor is that it is a completely open-ended question, with the person taking the poll the ones making up the answer, rather than some predetermined response that you have to either agree or disagree with. This leaves almost no room for any kind of bias within the question. On the other hand, the poll was taken from on 829 adults, which seems rather low. I don't know exactly what type of people were polled, but the poll said it was taken nationwide, which would imply unbiased selection of people to poll.
c. Due to the fact that this is such an open-ended question, there isn't much you can do to change it. If anything, you could always ask how these views have changed from in the past, but that would be getting away from the original intention of the poll.
When the word technology is used in reference to a changing world, the main thing that comes to mind is the internet. The biggest impact will likely be, and has been, the accessibility of political information. Other than that, it's likely that some form of voting online or some other method will be developed that will not be overly biased, especially once the younger generations of today get older, and nearly all Americans will have grown up with the internet. Of course, this same question will be asked again at that time due to the ever-increasing level of technology in the world.
Mariah Snyder Period 4.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/10/09/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry5374127.shtml
This political opinion poll was about Obama winning the Nobel peace prize. Most Americans criticize this and voted no on whether or not he should have been awarded it. 32.42% voted yes, 62.98 voted no, and 4.60 voted unsure.
2. I think the poll was fair because it was a straightforward question. I did not go into any detail or opinions. It just asked whether people agreed or disagreed whether Obama should have won the peace prize or not.
3. I wouldn’t really add or change anything to this poll because it is so straight forward. It isn’t putting anything in peoples head to think a certain way. It is just simply asking a question.
4. I think politics increasing in technology is a good thing. It will get more people involved because it is more convenient for them. It also will let politicians know people’s opinions more often.
Mariah Snyder pd 4
ReplyDelete@Kenny: i really like your pionts you made about the technology situation.
@ Taylor : i also like your points about technology, but are you sure it won't cause some problems ?
@ St. Clair
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Grant on this one. To me, your poll seems awfully biased. The answers the the question seem too laid out. In other words, if you think that Obama probably should get the award for some reason and vote yes, the poll instantly makes it seem like you, and everyone else in your situation, view him as 'an inspiration to the world'. And saying that it's too early for this type of honor implies that the person taking the poll and voting no thinks that Obama should receive the award at some point. The poll in general seems to portray Obama in an overly-positive light, no matter which way you vote. There's no option to say, "I don't think Obama deserves the Nobel Peace Prize. Period."
@ Abby
I agree with your opinions on technology. It does, in theory, make voting more convenient and accessible. And of course, there is always the risk of the fallibility of this same technology, potentially causing a huge disenfranchisement of a group of America somehow. That's why I think that voting in this way will likely not happen for quite some time.
Thomas Boyer Pd.1
ReplyDeleteJust got back from being sick in the mountains while fishing in the cold... I saw the assignment earlier when i went to leave, but when I left I didn't have any polls on hand... so I decided to just do it now since I just got back.
A:
Link to the Poll I used: < http://www.srbi.com/MostAmericansEagerforHealthcareReform.html >
-Asks about different aspects of changing Health Care from more than one angle and wording. Used a cell phone survey of 1002 people.
B:
There are almost 40 percent more Democrats who took the survey and the percent of 1/3 of the participants being independent is obscenely high for an optional political poll, but it is fair in that they give a variety of questions so that it doesn't force you to angle one way when you are maybe just slightly over that "line".
C:
Ask more about the reason they "want it" not the reasons it will "work" or even how they want it to work or play out.
Last Part:
I believe technology will make elections and being involved in politics much easier, as it currently is doing even now.
@Kenny
ReplyDeleteHaha, besides your horrible grammar and spelling, Pressing buttons over and over again doesn't happen, it is very easy for them to tell even if you do get past the precautions, and they can just delete the data coming from wherever. And remember, high numbers don't mean high accuracy... Specific groups of people hang out at certain sites. Like the AIM polls are mostly teenagers, but yeah... you would never win the Nobel prize.
@Kyle
Lol, I see you didn't spend time trying to find more information or another poll, plus you added "boring" subject in there when many people get riled up by it.
Katelyn Owens, pd. 4
ReplyDeletehttp://www.pollster.com/blogs/summing_up_the_new_health_care.php
This poll shows different organizations’ opinion on Obama’s Health Care Plan. The majority of the groups are opposed of the plan. Also down below is a chart that shows as time goes on more and people are opposed to the new Health Care Plan.
I think the poll is pretty fair because the questions are detailed enough for you to make an accurate decision. Also there is the category for people who are unsure if they are for or against the Health Care Plan.
I don’t think any changes could be made to the poll. Either you are in favor of or opposed to the Health Care Plan. The questions are also already detailed enough.
The increasing role of technology will continue to affect politics mostly through elections. Electronic voting is already here and will continue to increase. Computers are a form of technology and they are susceptible to freezing up like anyone else’s computer does at home. If the voting computers were to freeze during an election period, people would have to come back and re-vote. It would be a hassle to some people to do that.
Katelyn Owens, pd. 4
ReplyDelete@ Mariah
I agree with you on that it’ll be more convenient for people. Either voting, or just staying up to date with political actions.
@ Taylor
I agree with you on that with technology it’ll be easier to reach the people. Most people have internet access where lots of information can be displayed on why a candidate is running and what are their motives etc…
Nicole Lucas. Period 4.
ReplyDeleteThis poll from the Baltimore Sun asks Is Obama deserving of the nobel peace prize? About 65% of people say he doesn't deserve the nobel peace prize, while almost 30% say he does deserve it and almost 5% aren't sure. 7,172 people took part in this poll. I think the poll is pretty fair, he hasn't been in office long. He hasn't really done much of anything to deserve the award. I would ask what has he done to deserve the award?
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bal-oabam-poll-1009,0,580950,post.poll
Technology will probably increase the interest of politics in people. Everyone has some kind of technology on them at all times. Probably in the future you'll be able to go to a website,register, sign in and vote for your state senators or the President. That would be more convenient for people, and could increase the voting rate. I don't think technology would really create a problem for elections, unless people would make different identities and vote twice or something like that or if people would hack into the website and change things around. If the government could find a way to block that, then there wouldn't be much of a problem.
@ Jamie
I agree with you about how technology can be a bad thing. If there would be voting online, kids could definately hack into the voting polls and change things around, causing a lot of trouble.
@ Mariah
I agree with you that technology being involved in politics is a good thing, for the fact that things could become more convenient for people, like voting online and having polls online.
Corey Pool Pd.1
ReplyDeleteThis poll was actually taken mainly from the last couple of months this year by CBS News. The address is http://www.pollingreport.com/afghan.htm. This poll is actually compilation of questions, questions like how you think our president is dealing with Afghanistan, should we change the amount of troops involved, and if we should even be involved still. It seems that many people agree with the way that Obama is dealing with Afghanistan, but many people disagree with the idea of sending more troops over there, which is the kind of the opposite of the earlier question.
This poll is sort of unfair for the general outlook. This poll relies on peoples positions during a long period of time; having a new president, these views can change fairly quickly. Like the idea of agreeing about the way Obama is dealing with Afghanistan, but not wanting to send more troops. I would change this poll by eliminating some that huge time factor; getting info at times closer together.
The use of technology in politics could become very helpful and at the same time very bad. It will allow many people who are not active can become active. The problem will be that technology and its given info can be manipulated by peoples’ views and people’s situations a bad name. Some changes could be seen as being more careful of what about politics you use technology for so it is not manipulated.
@Robert
I think that the use of the internet in politics should be used a lot less. Yes, it is easy form of communication but back to my thought is that like any view it can be manipulated even more easily than something like TV.
@Kenny
That commotion that is involved in voting registration is there for a reason. So our system is not abused and done as fairly as possible.
Drew Holtzapple pd 4
ReplyDeleteA poll was found on facebook that asked if President Obama should be assassinated. This poll (whether serious or not) shows that people are losing their common sense as well as losing morals and ethics. The fact that such an extreme poll was made tells me that some people zero respect for him. You don't have to like him or support him, but at least show some decency. Plus, now the Secret Service is after the creator.
The poll asked: Should Obama be killed? The answers: yes, no, maybe, if he cuts my healthcare.
I really see this poll as: Do you support Obama's health care plan? But worded horribly. It would be fair if the title wasn't so radical and the one choice was omitted. That's how I would change it.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,226722,00.html
i found a poll on health care asking if you approve or disapprove the way Obama is handling it. Generally, the public is split pretty evenly when it comes to their opinions. The link to the site is http://www.pollingreport.com/health.htm
ReplyDeleteI think it is worded very fairly. It doesn't make you sway one way or another and isn't biase in any way. So i don't think anything needs to be changed. Although, i might ask some other questions. For example, do you think these changes to health care should be made drastically or gratually?
i think the increase in technology will make campaigning change. You will probably be able to campaign via cell phones or other electronics, which has its pros and cons. I'm not sure what changes i see, but i do see it causes privacy issues. I think it will cause a lot of contrevorsy along the way.
Casie strausbaugh and so is the one above! (i forgot to put my name) pd. 4
ReplyDelete@mariah
i agree with the convienence with using technology more. I think i probably will get more people involved, especally the younger population.
@ jamie
i think you also make a good point when you say voting from home could cause conflict, especially with teenagers in a household that know a lot about technology and could easily hack in and mess things up.
I think that technology could result in more campaigning options and different ways to vote. I know that there were many ads on websites that showed slogans for McCain and Obama while they were campaigning. It could pose problems for people that do not know how to "use" technology.
ReplyDelete@Taylor- I agree that technology gives candidates more options
@Robert- I don't think voting online would be safe, it's easy to sabotage.
Jeff Harman Period 4
ReplyDelete1. I found a poll asking if the people belived that President Obama deserved the Noble Peace Prize. The winner of the poll was "yes" gaining just about 50% of the poll while "no" and "maybe" shared the other half of the votes.
2. I believe that this poll wasn't very fair. Clearly Obama hasn't done enough to deserve the award(he even said this himself) and it is clearly just his followers who would say he deserves anything.
3. I think that his poll had a biased audience responding to it, but there is nothing anyone could do about that, but in the article that came with the poll it says that republicans are "attacking" Obama which makes it sound as they are bad.
4. New technology will definatly change upcoming elections. Politicains will now be able to campaign through the internet and maybe someday we will be able to vote on it. This could cause some problems as sometimes technologies have their problems.
Jeff Harman Period 4
ReplyDelete@ Katelyn
I complete agree with you that the eletronic voting and the possible problems that would come by it.
@ St. Clair
I found the same poll as you from the Huffington Post. I think that it is hard to find polls that aren't going to be biased and in this case I believe it is.
Lamar Lehman pd 1
ReplyDeleteA. I found a poll that deals with America's opinion on sending more troops to Afghanistan. It shows that AMericans are divided on the issue. 48% favor more troops being sent and 45 % oppose it.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/123521/Americans-Divided-Sending-Troops-Afghanistan.aspx
B. I think that the poll is not fair because it does not leave an option for I don't know, or I don't care for people to say. It is only listed as favor or oppose, so I think that it is not fair, even though it is a pretty open and shut issue.
C. Some changes I would make to the poll would be another option that lets AMerican's offer neutrality to the issue.
I think that technology will change things drastically and open things up more. it will give candidates more options and we could potentially see internet voting oneday. HOwever, I disagree with this because it would be easy for someone to hack something and committ voter fraud.
@Taylor
I agree that campaigning on the internet will be easier to reach people.
@Heather
I disagree with your complaint of the poll only using 1000 people. It seems low compared to the overall population but thats generally how it works. Its just basic probability.
Stefon, Period 4
ReplyDeleteThe poll I chose was about the H1N1 Influenza Type A Virus. Before I post the actual assigned posting I would like to explain “Swine Influenza” so that you aren’t as ignorant as most Americans.
What does this H1N1 mean?
Well, H1 is an abbreviation meaning Hemagglutinin class 1. To simplify and define what this Hemagglutinin is, it is the protein in a virus that causes the white blood cells to agglutinate. This means that the cells clump together in the presence of the virus, making them unable to react as well and easier to infect. Class 1 Hemagglutinin is the most effective and is one of the contributing factors that makes “Swine Flu” so dangerous. This agglutination occurs most effectively in humans with blood type A positive. So if you are A+ (which is proven to be more common in Asians or Pacific Islanders) you have a greater chance of contracting any type of virus naturally than any other blood type. This is not to say you will NOT contract H1N1 if you are any of the other blood types, you just naturally have stronger white cells. Also, if you are type B-, you are in luck because the odds are for you strongly. This blood type (B) is more common in the Irish and other Anglo ethnicities.
N1 is an abbreviation meaning Neuraminidase class 1. This is easier to explain, it is a direct rating (class number) of the effectiveness of the Neuraminidases, which are proteins on the shell of the virus which control its ability to break down antigens. In this case, class 1 is also the highest potency. This means that it is an incredibly effective virus as far as infection period and ability to resist vaccines. Also, studies show that because of the strong effectiveness of the H1N, it is easier for the virus to undergo mutations critical to its survival.
A type A virus is a virus that can, to dumb it down and for lack of a better term, “shape-shift” to produce a pandemic-quality virus that is ultra resistant. A scenario, this flu is H. class 1/N. class 1. Therefore it has the capability to be classified as a Type A Influenza strain.
Do you now understand the severity of “Swine Influenza” or H1N1 Type A Influenza?
Good. Here is a poll to show you how many people are either ignorant to the preceding facts, or wish for the world to be brought to its proverbial knees by this virus.
The poll is the topmost one when the site pans down automatically regarding American opinions on the severity of the aforementioned virus. It is representing three separate time periods and the corresponding results. Here is the link, don’t scroll anywhere or you will lose the proper poll results:
http://www.pollingreport.com/health.htm#H1N1
Scary now that you know all you do, isn’t it?
As far as what I would change in the question presented to the voters would be the representation of the scientific standpoint on the current state of the virus or some type of briefing on the information I gave you above.
I think, however, that the poll is pretty fair as it isn’t a poll directly regarding specific political standpoints, therefore it is naturally neutral.
I personally see no apparent probvlems with technology's role in political society.I suppose I am too much of a futurist.
Poll credit goes to CBS News.
Nathan Flory Pd. 4
ReplyDeletehttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/19/AR2009081903066.html
The poll I chose is one whether or not Americans support the war in Afghanistan.
The poll concluded that most people don’t see the war as worth fighting anymore. What’s nice about the poll is that they go into a little detail as to how the Democrats and Republicans voted in the poll. “As Afghans go to the polls today, do you believe President Obama's decision to send additional U.S. troops and money is necessary to ensure U.S. interests in the region?” This was the question posed to the readers. I believe that the poll was pretty non-biased and was meant so that you could easily agree or disagree with the sending of troops.
I do not believe that the poll should be changed. The posed question was simple and probably edited to be non-biased but it does matter who answers the question so if an area is more liberal than the results will be that way and the same if an area is more conservative.
@ Everyone commenting on technology and news
I agree that with technology today news has the possibility to be all over the internet a few minutes after it happens. I heard this a little bit ago while listening to NPR. Two Australian girls stuck in a sewer updated their facebook instead of calling for help. Anyway with facebook, myspace, and twitter people can spread information around the world.
@ Hoover
Do we even have to comment on other peoples post to get full credit because you haven’t put that we have to comment on each other on the last few polls?
@Lamar
ReplyDeleteCheck your math, comrade.
You only represented 93% of those polled.
This means that either 7% are neutrally opinionated, as you stated they weren't prompted to be. OR 7% of the voters and their computers fell into a passing wormhole while their results were sending.
The probability of the last mentioned occurrence is approximately .4983 times 10 to the -1,456th power:∞. SO my conclusion is that your statement regarding the polls fairness was based on inaccurate assumptions that there was no 3rd nor nth choice. Ergo, the poll was entirely fair as far as choices given goes.
@Mariah,
ReplyDeleteI think that your post was entirely well-written and thorough.
Thank you for this : ]
Huffington post about Obama's Nobel Peace Prize, Of the three choices answering the question of if he deserves it, "Yes, he's an inspiration to the world", "Maybe", and "No, it's way too soon for this type of honor", there were 47.97&% who voted for the first, 16.15% for the second, and 35.88% who voted for the third.
ReplyDeleteIt was fair, yes, though there is a TAD liberal biased, it is still good.
nope pretty solid.
electronic voting hasn't gliched yet. so?
Rachael Paules Period 4
ReplyDeleteI found a poll on whether Obama deserved the nobel peace prize or not. 47% of people say he deserves it, 15% of people say maybe, and 37% of people think he does not deserve it.
I think the poll is fair. The three options for voting were:
~Yes, he's an inspiration to the world
~maybe
~No, it's way too soon for this type of honor
To me it's sort of a liberal point of view than an indifferent point of view.
I wouldn't change anything about the poll, ask any additional questions, or give any other options because it gives the three basic opinions people would have. Yes they believe he deserves it, no he doesn't deserve it, and maybe for those who have a hard time deciding whether he deserves it or not.
Technology will have an impact on political campaigns mostly due to the internet. I think it will be easier for candidates to campaign on the internet and get responses due to the amount of people that use the internet these days.
Shawn Vincent Pd. won
ReplyDeleteI have very recently viewed a poll that i found quite interesting. it was a USA Today/ gallup poll given to adults in regards to President Obama sending more troops to afghanistan and whether they agree with it or not. http://www.pollingreport.com/afghan.htm
Well, the results of the poll seem to state that americans are slowly starting to favor sending more troops to afghanistan, although it is very close. This clearly states that this is a tough topic to get a clear opinion on. also, what makes me worried about the credibility of this survey is the margin of error, which is 4. the survey doesn't specify what the political preference these people are so i can't factor that into the fairness or unfairnes of this poll, although it is well known that liberals typically do not support the war in afghanistan.
I would want to know the political preference of the people answering, this majorly factors into their decision.
@ jeff
- your probably right about the biased nobel peace prize poll, but i still loathe you with every ounce of my body
@ St. Clair
-i thought that was very good poll you found, althoug the huffington post is generally known as a liberal site so it may have been a little biased.
Brook Warren Pd. 4
ReplyDeleteThis poll is one from pollster.com. The question asked is whether or not people would support Obama sending more troops into Afghanistan or not. Here's the link.
http://www.pollster.com/blogs/us_afghanistan_gallup_106.php
From all the things we've learned in class this poll isn't all that great. I mean it only gives the people 2 options. Do you want more troops or not. There's no I don't care or leave me alone option! Also it has a 4 percent margin of error which is alright but not the best.
The only change I can think of is just giving another option. A poll really isn't fair if you only have 2 options to choose from.
Electronic voting will make things much more convenient for the common household. However it could lead to glitches, viruses and possible scams in the voting system.
@Cost Wow really thorough cost. Nice effort! I hope I can some day become as intellectual as you...
@St. Clair The poll you picked sounded alittle pro Obama. I mean really it goes from "he totally deserves this" or you must become the Obama hater and choose that he doesn't deserve it, and that he's much too new.
JENNY NAPIERSKIE pd 1
ReplyDeletehttp://www.charlotteconservative.com/index.php/category/election/
1. Well uh I went to charlotte conservative.com and found this poll that asked which of the following political figures has the most unappealing, and abrasive personality, all politcal issues aside.
2. The poll is kinda not fair, considering its on a CONSERVATIVE website. But uh I guess it's pretty much fair with that aside because they have people from all political parties (but hillary clinton had the most votes HAHA)
3. I think that next time they should include random individuals like Kanye West and what not.
Rachael- I quite like your poll you found
Mariah- Way to have four points, instead of the asked THREE
stewart pd 1
ReplyDeletea. Heres a poll about health care. It was just saying if people want it and think it's importatnt or not.
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1913426,00.html
fourty six percent said it was really important to pass the reform, 28% said it was somewhat important or not at all important. also, 55% said we need a major adjustment, and 43% said minor adjustments.
b. i think its fair, its not really something that you can be unfair about i guess?
c. i would see how many people actually need it compared to how many think its important also because thats good to know.
d. technology is def going to change politics. internet and things like that will be taken into consideration for voting and stuff maybe. and as technology improves new inventions or something.who knows.
Zachary Hivner pd1
ReplyDeleteMy poll was on what the Iraq people believe to be the better form of government. It compared the Sunni, the Shiites, and the average of both in 2005, 2006, and 2007. Both support a democracy but, the Sunni feel that there country should be led by a strong leader and the Shiites support a Islamic state too. The link is http://www.defendingthetruth.com/militaries-war/8914-iraq-poll-2007-a.html and it is halfway down the page. It is fair that it asks the two main religions their points of view and doesn't just lump it all into one, but it forgot one of the most important ethnic group the KURDS. How will people know about their idea to break away and form Kurdistan if they aren’t asked in the polls? Other wise I think it was a fair poll. Problems with it are that it does not tell how many people were in the poll or how many of each group was in it. It also didn't say what part of Iraq were they from. It could be a big difference in opinion from Bagdad compared to some small farming community. Another problem I found was that they didn't say the percent that refused to answer in 2007 and what groups preferred not to answer.
@Jamie
Another problem could be the website itself. How many conservatives are going to cnn to fill out a poll? It is the same way that liberals all don’t go to fox to fill out polls. The website will not have an accurate poll when there are certain groups of people that won’t go to a website to fill out polls.
@Angst
I think having a simple poll definitely helps. When polls are easy to understand it is easy to answer for what you believe in but I do agree it would be helpful to have varying degrees of how much you agree or disagree like you said
Scott Tilley Pd. 1
ReplyDeleteThis poll is from the Huffington Post and is asking if Obama deserved the Nobel Peace Prize. The options are : Yes, he's an inspiration to the world, Maybe, and No, it's to soon for this type of honor.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/09/obamas-nobel-peace-prize_n_315289.html
In my opinion, this poll is unfair. Yes could mean he deserves it, but you may not believe he is an "inspiration" to America. I think that the worst thing about this poll is that it has "maybe" as one of the choices. Seriously, how many Americans will go to this poll and be like "uhh i dunno" and choose "maybe" as an answer to compensate for there lack of knowledge. I believe that any poll that uses "maybe" is an unfair poll.
I'd definately change the answer options to something a little more specific, and take out the maybe option.
I think that with technology, comes the ability to see politics at the touch of a button or the click of a mouse. People can definately learn more about it and be more educated when it comes time to elect or poll.
@ st. clair-
the poll is biased because it doesnt give enough options. Either you're a left wing democrat who says he's an inspiration, an uneducated loser, or a right wing cynic who hates obama. I don't see the fairness in it but we're still friends right???
@ stefon-
very very very thorough in your research and comments, nice work.
Claire Bleecker Period 1
ReplyDeletewww.pollingpoint.com/result/10
Conducted by YouGov/Polimetrix for the Economist
a) My poll asked "When it comes to health care, what do you think is the bigger problem?" The answers were "The high cost of health care and insurance" or "The number of people who are uninsured and don't receive good health care".
66% picked the first and 27% the latter.
b) I guess this is a pretty fair poll. I would think the wording would sway more people to choose that they are more concerned about the number of people who are uninsured but obviously I'm wrong.
It doesn't show what the missing 9% is for though.
I also wondered if the opinions were swayed becuase of it being done for the Economist...which would focus more on money...
c) I might change the wording.
Technology will surely change the way that politicians campaign. In the last election we saw a huge use of the internet by all the candidates.
Once voting utilizes technology more, I think we'll see a huge boost in efficiency but we'll also encounter problems with accuracy and glitches.
@Taylor
I agree with what you said about candidates being critized via the internet. It seems that the internet often creates very untrue rumors and unjust criticisms.
@St. Clair
The internet very often seems to make people less informed the more they read.
Stephen MaGilton pd. 1
ReplyDelete1. found this poll asking if obama deserved the peace prize or not.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/09/obamas-nobel-peace-prize_n_315289.html
2. i think it is fair because it provides the other option maybe. although it seems unfair because the yes option only states "he's and inspiration to the world" while the other says no "its way too soon for this type of honor." What happens if i want a yes or a no without that statement. for example i might think he does deserve it for being the first non white president of the US (if you can receive this award for that) but i might not think he is an inspiration to the world!!
3. changes, i would ask the same question and have the answeres be yes no and maybe and or idk. then let the voters vote and comment on it. almost like a blog...
taking polls electronically can have a negative effect if someone logs on with a fake name and votes a ton of times for one thing rather than having everyone vote once. this could change the outcomes of future polls and such.
@ scott
i didnt even see your post til after i got done mine. here's to the first thing that pops up on google!!
@ JENNY
haha yeah the conservative website automatically gives away a little bit of biasedness. (yes its a word)
Tahi Khan
ReplyDeletehttp://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32464936/ns/politics-white_house/
a.) This poll is based on Obama’s healthcare plan. Obviously, not many people are for this. ‘A majority’ thinks that the healthcare plan will worsen what we have already.
b.) I don’t think that this poll was very fair. The numbers seemed alright, but I have a feeling that more GOP’s were asked over any other group of people. ‘A plurality’ was asked.
c.) Overall, the poll seemed alright, the right questions were asked…it’s just a matter of WHO was asked.
d.) I think technology will make it easier for polling and it’ll make it more fair. Why? Well, our technology is increasing so they will most definitely find quicker ways to poll people and will probably try to make questions unbiased. Problems will always be encountered like always. Some possible problems may be that polls may be fraud, but I personally don’t think if there’ll be any big problems.
@Josh
Yeah, I do agree with you with your last paragraph. Public opinion won’t be fairly counted for. With the election online ordeal…I’m hoping that that won’t happen for a LONG time.
@Heather
You’re right, it does depend on who polls who on what. (if that made any sense) CNN is more liberal and Fox is more conservative, so of course the questions asked would be more biased.
Alex Hamm Period 4
ReplyDelete1. This poll is asking whether or not Americans would support the sending of more troops to Afghanistan. http://www.pollster.com/blogs/us_afghanistan_gallup_106.php
2. From what we learned this poll is fairly unthorough. It only has two options. Also, it has a 4% margin of error which is fairly high for a poll run by two organizations as respected as USA Today and Gallup.
3. I would add two more options--one an "idk or care" and one an opinion in which the public could support leaving things as they are.
@ Tilley-
Fight the Power!
@ Mariah-
I like the fact that you're poll was straight forward in it's questioning.
Nikki Elicker
ReplyDeletePeriod One
I found a poll (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=a1aj4z4GhbH8) asking the question:
Which of the following do you see as the most important issue facing the country right now?
Health Care (23%), The Economy (46%), The wars in Iraq/Afghanistan (10%), The federal budget deficit (16%), Climate Change (2%), Other (1%), or Not Sure (2%).
This seems like a pretty accurate poll, with the stupid answer (Not Sure/Other). Most people have forgotten about the wars in Iraq/Afghanistan due to the big change in the economy. Health care is only a big deal because it’s being talked about a lot right now. Personally I don’t care about the health care plan because my family already has health insurance. The only people who are super concerned about health care are the ones who need it.
Some of the topics are too general. What about the economy is so important? Job loss, loss of value of the American dollar, etc. This survey could have more specific topics, but it’s generally an all around good survey.
Technology will greatly affect politics over time. Online voting may attract more voters, but how easy will it be to hack the system and have people vote more than 1 time. Millions of viruses are created every day; it won’t take much time at all before someone is able to hack the polling system
Nikki Elicker
Period One
I found a poll (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=a1aj4z4GhbH8) asking the question:
Which of the following do you see as the most important issue facing the country right now?
Health Care (23%), The Economy (46%), The wars in Iraq/Afghanistan (10%), The federal budget deficit (16%), Climate Change (2%), Other (1%), or Not Sure (2%).
This seems like a pretty accurate poll, with the stupid answer (Not Sure/Other). Most people have forgotten about the wars in Iraq/Afghanistan due to the big change in the economy. Health care is only a big deal because it’s being talked about a lot right now. Personally I don’t care about the health care plan because my family already has health insurance. The only people who are super concerned about health care are the ones who need it.
Some of the topics are too general. What about the economy is so important? Job loss, loss of value of the American dollar, etc. This survey could have more specific topics, but it’s generally an all around good survey.
Technology will greatly affect politics over time. Online voting may attract more voters, but how easy will it be to hack the system and have people vote more than 1 time. Millions of viruses are created every day; it won’t take much time at all before someone is able to hack the polling system
@Brook
haha way to pay attention during class... but youre right...youre poll doesnt give the "duhh" option.
@Rachael
Ugh...I still can't believe he won the Nobel Peace Prize! What has he done? Oh wait...he's better than Bush, so he deserves a prize!
Oopsies
ReplyDeleteI pasted mine twice...
Oh well...
EXTRA CREDIT!
Caitlyn Yetter Pd. 4
ReplyDeleteJeeze, I hate being sick. Sinus infection. Hence, my absence today, which is actually the first day since Friday I've felt pretty darn good enough to write this thing.
Anyways,
http://www.pollster.com/blogs/us_iraq_afghanistan_abcpost121.php
1. This poll is pretty straightforward. It’s on people’s opinions on how the war is going, if it’s going anywhere, if it’s worth pursuing anymore, and stuff like that. It shows that most of the people surveyed are leaning towards ending the war, and that it’s not going anywhere. On the other hand, more people believe that winning the war in Afghanistan will be the only way to be successful in the war on terrorism.
2. The poll seems fair in the sense of its questions, which seem to be rather unbiased. But, the poll is only taken by 1,003, which is bacteria-sized in the grand scheme of the population. There is no way this poll can even begin to cover the opinion of the country with such a tiny amount of people taking it.
3. More people would have to take the poll to make it worth while, opinion wise. The poll, though, has four good questions that cover the opinions it wishes to find rather well, as they seem unbiased. But then again, I’m not good at looking for biases.
There. Finally.