Question

Statistics based on polls can be faulty if the poll is constructed in such a way as to encourage a particular answer. If a question is worded "Do you feel you should be taxed so some people can get paid for staying home and doing nothing?" it is likely to get a lot of "no" responses. On the other hand, the question "Do you think the government should help people who are unable to find work?" is likely to get a lot more positive responses. Both questions could be about the same policy of providing unemployment assistance. Polls can easily be rigged to get a desired answer by the way the questions are phrased. What do you think?

Answer 1

POLLS CAN EASILY BE RIGGED TO GET A DESIRED ANSWER BY THE WAY THE QUESTIONS ARE PHASED:

Answer to the question: What do you think?

The goal of a poll is to understand the voting patteerns of a large voting public. Systematic bias can come due to the follwing reasons:

The way the question is asked in a poll can influence the results.

EXAMPLE 1: To the question: "Do you feel you should be taxed so some people can get paid for staying home and doing nothing?", response will be mostly "No". To the question: "Do you think the government should help who are unable to find work?", response will be mostly "Yes".

EXAMPLE 2: To the question:"Do you indulge in malpractice in the examination to get high marks?", the response will be "No". The reason is that any student will try to project himself good in presence of others. The correct response can be got by secret ballots, where the identity of the student answering is not shown and only his response is counted.