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American Polling “Choice Words: If You Can’t Understand Our Poll Questions,
Then How Can We Understand Your Answers?” Core Issue Richard Morin writes about
a problem plaguing polls across the nation. Morin states that many Americans
polled do not understand the poll questions, yet they seem to always have an
opinion on most questions poised. Supporting Ideas
1) When President Clinton was
confronted with questions about his past actions with Monica Lewinsky, he
created ambiguity within the questions. He “misinterpreted” the meaning of sex,
and what it entails.
2) To create the most illustrating answers, several
questions are asked; the answers should come out the same. This will prove how
strong the polls should be supported. If few questions are asked, the standard
error (margin of error) is extremely higher than that of more lengthy surveys.
3) There is also a language problem. How questions are written creates different
results. By describing an event within a question may create a biased answer.
They may also not be probing at the right question they had intended.
Conclusions Morin states that all the attention brought to polls over the past
year have greatly increased the polling process. The polls indicated early on
how the public felt about Clinton, “Clinton’s a good president but a man of
ghastly character who can stay in the White House – but stay away from my house,
don’t touch my daughter and don’t pet the dog” (Cannon, 290). The public stayed
with the approval of the president’s policies and should have been paid more
attention to. On the other hand, some feel that polls may never play
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