You have to watch surveys. They may not be what they seem to be on the surface. That survey CBS did was skewed by who they polled. As it turns out about 1/2 the people that were polled were democrats, about 1/4 were republican and the other 1/4 were independents. What do you think it's going to say with those people being polled. Similarly when you take a poll on Fox news it may be skewed to the right. (Yes the people on the right watch FOX news because they don't have a another choice that is right of FOX.) Just like if you poll in the slums you're going to get more liberals and if you go to the million dollar neighborhoods (except Hollywood) you're going to get more republicans.
Another thing about polls is how they word their questions and how they make there available answers. A recent one I saw was do you favor Bush, do you think he has some problems or do you dislike Bush. The answers came back about 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 but it was reported as 2/3 polled do not favor Bush. They grouped 2 categories together that could fit under one heading that made it sound worse than the polling resulted.
The news media can be very clever at spinning something to make you think the way they want you to think. Some people on talk radio can do that very well. I've caught Sean Hannity doing it and I like Sean personally. He's too far right for me though.
The easiest way to spot spinning is when someone starts a paragraph with an issue and ends it blaming someone. LOL
Another thing about polls is how they word their questions and how they make there available answers. A recent one I saw was do you favor Bush, do you think he has some problems or do you dislike Bush. The answers came back about 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 but it was reported as 2/3 polled do not favor Bush. They grouped 2 categories together that could fit under one heading that made it sound worse than the polling resulted.
The news media can be very clever at spinning something to make you think the way they want you to think. Some people on talk radio can do that very well. I've caught Sean Hannity doing it and I like Sean personally. He's too far right for me though.
The easiest way to spot spinning is when someone starts a paragraph with an issue and ends it blaming someone. LOL
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