'The Perfect Balanced Sample'
Mark Blumenthal | September 10, 2009
Topics: Health Care Reform , Measurement
I posted this video clip from the British series, "Yes, Prime Minister," a few months ago. However, when a long time reader sent it along this morning, I thought it might bear watching again, especially in light of the arguments in recent weeks over health care reform polling and how easy it can be to "lead" respondents in one direction or another with questions that provide new information. The video exaggerates, obviously, but as this Peter Suderman article conveys, not as much as some of us would like to believe.
And as long as we're on the subject, per Suderman -- yes, until last night, Americans technically had no "Obama plan" to favor or oppose (some will argue that is still true). However, I don't agree with Suderman that simple questions along those lines (whose results we chart) amount to "bad polling." The Pew Research Center tells us that, as of last week, two thirds of Americans are following "the debate over health reform" very closely (40%) or fairly closely (26%). As such, most know that Congress is debating proposals that Obama asked them to pass, even if he left the details to others, and we know that Americans have opinions on this subject. So a simple question about whether Americans generally support these ideas or consider them good or bad is a perfectly reasonable way to ask about them especially if, as in the NBC/Wall Street Journal or Gallup examples, the pollsters offer respondents the option of saying they "do not have an opinion."
By Mark Blumenthal | September 10, 2009 1:44 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)
