Iraq poll by Zogby is flawed
If you’re taking a poll, wouldn’t you want to take the time to get the right answers? Maybe they took the time needed to get the left answers…
RealClearPolitics – Commentary – Zogby’s Bogus Poll on U.S. Military in Iraq by Tim Kane
As a veteran, I have been hoping that a pollster would take the obvious step of asking our troops for their opinions, and I think Zogby International deserves credit for making the effort.
But as an economist, my appreciation eroded sharply when I took a closer look.
The smart troops who perceived this false choice probably set the clipboard down and walked away at that point. That leaves us with a biased respondent pool.
Update: The post quoted above is misleading, I’ve posted a correction.
I’m confused. Who are the leftists here ?
The US military personnel were the ones who responded to the poll by expressing a desire for early withdrawal rather than selecting option D – “The US should remain in Iraq as long as it takes”.
I think you’ll find Kaine is the one manipulating opinions with wordplay here. There really isn’t any other explanation for suggesting that the poll which included the option above had “no middle ground option”.
Comment by Hex — March 11, 2006 @ 6:08 am
If the poll did use the ” Now or never” terms or similar phrasing to ask about withdrawal it would have gotten flawed responses. I’ll be following this up as I find out more.
Comment by HDW — March 11, 2006 @ 6:27 am
The question as quoted from the poll is:
http://www.radioblogger.com/archives/march06.html#001430
How long should U.S. troops stay in Iraq?
1. They should withdraw immediately
2. They should withdraw within the next six months
3. They should withdraw within six to twelve months
4. They should stay as long as they are needed
5. Not sure
The author you cite suggests that there is no middle of the road option there and criticizes the lack of “stay for” options. Obviously those troops wanting to “stay for X months longer than needed” were put out but then again… so is everyone who thought this author was higlighting a misleading poll rather than just being misleading himself.
Comment by Hex — March 12, 2006 @ 5:03 am
[...] I criticized a Zogby poll the other day based on the criticism of someone else. I didn’t at the time find the poll questions myself. A commenter has kindly corrected my error. The questions are not nearly as misleading as the original author suggested. I will be investigating this further, but I’d like to apologize for my lack of follow through on the original post. [...]
Pingback by High Desert Wanderer » Blog Archive » I stand corrected — March 12, 2006 @ 5:24 am