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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsUSA Today caught cheating on poll
USA Today breathlessly claims "Poll: Half of Americans say Trump is victim of a 'witch hunt' as trust in Mueller erodes!!!"
https://www.vox.com/2019/3/18/18271441/trump-tweet-usa-today-suffolk-poll-mueller-witch-hunt
...But the poll question on which that headline rests is seriously flawed. The question reads as follows: President Trump has called the Special Counsels investigation a witch hunt and said hes been subjected to more investigations than previous presidents because of politics. Do you agree?
Its true that 50.3 percent of the polls 1,000 respondents said yes to that question. But that doesnt necessarily mean they believe the Mueller investigation is a witch hunt. The prompt packs two different questions into one a poor strategy for a poll question. Respondents simply may have meant to agree that Trump has been subjected to more investigations than previous presidents because of politics a controversial but defensible position without intending to go further and indicate they think Trump is the victim of a witch hunt.
Farmer-Rick
(10,072 posts)You can get any response you want if you word your question in an obtuse and misleading way.
Javaman
(62,439 posts)KPN
(15,587 posts)without 45 and Rupert M.
watoos
(7,142 posts)to control the far right narrative.
NewJeffCT
(56,827 posts)It really should be two questions
onit2day
(1,201 posts)So many have already been convicted, (indicted on the Russian side) to believe this is a 'witch hunt'. Seems to me that most people would know this.
rogue emissary
(3,147 posts)That question is vague and clearly open to interpretation.
zaj
(3,433 posts)Which is a fact.
mentalslavery
(463 posts)that he has been subjected to more investigations that any other president.....yep...I heard him lie that way....I agree...
KPN
(15,587 posts)Rhiannon12866
(202,970 posts)But with good reason! They said the exact same thing on Morning Joe today.
Botany
(70,291 posts)But the damage is now done and certain members of the media and of the right wing
will still quote the USA today poll that Americans see Trump as a victim as gospel.
KPN
(15,587 posts)Last edited Tue Mar 19, 2019, 10:58 PM - Edit history (1)
I was dumbfounded, shocked, dismayed and discouraged ... immediately, and that feeling stayed with me through the remainder of the yesterday.
onit2day
(1,201 posts)dalton99a
(81,065 posts)MadLinguist
(781 posts)Respondents could agree to any of the following:
1. President Trump has called the Special Counsels investigation a witch hunt
2. said hes been subjected to more investigations than previous presidents
3. said blah blah because of politics.
James48
(4,416 posts)I agree that he has said that!
I don't agree that that is what it is, but i DO agree that Trump has made those statements.
Kind of Blue
(8,709 posts)Scarsdale
(9,426 posts)tRump. No person with a brain could dismiss the loud signals in this administration of corruption.
docgee
(870 posts)KPN
(15,587 posts)credibility. Saw it on CNN and also, if I remember right, on MSNBC. I didn't watch any evening news because I was so dismayed with the "news" and how it affected my spirit earlier in the day so don't know about the big three (NBC, CBS, ABC).
CentralMass
(15,265 posts)docgee
(870 posts)We have 2. Best pets.
CentralMass
(15,265 posts)forgotmylogin
(7,496 posts)Hm.
yaesu
(8,020 posts)because they give them "yuge" tax breaks & a constant circus atmosphere entertainment value.
workinclasszero
(28,270 posts)The "liberal" MSM is playing it's dirty little game again I see.
KPN
(15,587 posts)Cryptoad
(8,254 posts)calimary
(80,693 posts)Blue Owl
(49,913 posts)mwb970
(11,299 posts)Except this one, I suspect.
underpants
(182,273 posts)Sorry didnt read the link if they mentioned that
El Mimbreno
(777 posts)Power 2 the People
(2,437 posts)KPN
(15,587 posts)those go with the pack -- so they now will tend to believe it IS a "witch hunt" and Mueller's report will be tainted by that belief.
This in itself should be considered obstruction of justice when it comes to the highest level of corruption and treason we have ever seen at the highest level in our national government. That is, USA Today (it's owner Rupert Murdoch and family) should be held accountable for malicious negligence and conspiracy against the people and the Constitution of the USA. That's my feeling. I l know it won't happen, but that's what I feel right now.
What can we do about it?
We should all contact by email, letter or phone all of our news sources and urge them to right this faulty reporting they did yesterday.
SWBTATTReg
(21,859 posts)for courses that were taught (by me and others) at a major company and one thing that you learned was how to construct your questions properly so you won't get confusing answers etc. like this poll question. Seems like USA Today didn't want to pay anyone a little extra money to have a question properly written...this demonstrates a poor lack of thought and control and USA Today trying to hype up sales of their newspapers.
Very irresponsible and just provides another reason to not read their papers (I can't stand them anyways, since their papers are so generic and 'fake' to me, I'd rather read a local paper and get more of a 'local' flavor to the news.)
lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)It's not an accident.
uponit7771
(90,225 posts)louis-t
(23,199 posts)USA IS pro Trump. How disgusting.
Dorn
(520 posts)For example: Do you agree that Lima beans taste like poop, would you like some Lima bean casserole ?
PoindexterOglethorpe
(25,746 posts)Three questions.
And yes, Trump has said over and over that he's been subjected to more investigations than previous presidents. I certainly agree that he said that.
If one of the choices was "neither agree nor disagree" I'd have gone with that. Or maybe refused to have answered the question at all.
Although usually polling doesn't allow a skipped question.
Other examples of bad questions, are the ones that purport to determine just what part of the country you grew up in (or what part of the UK or other English speaking place) by asking you how you'd pronounce a particular word, or which is the word you use for something (see-saw vs teeter-totter or pop vs soda for instance). Well, because I've lived in different parts of the country sometimes both pronunciations or both word choices coexist equally in my brain. Invariably I have to give up part way through. I keep on hoping they can't tell I was raised by wolves.
Or other kinds of surveys will give choices for doing things (skiing vs ice skating) or between pop singers (any two people I've never heard of) and again, I can't complete the survey.
doctorzuma
(44 posts)Each question should be designed to measure only one variable. So, the conservative websites, who love to push ignorance, are running with this one.
MagickMuffin
(15,890 posts)Skraxx
(2,965 posts)cbdo2007
(9,213 posts)you can really get the data to tell any story you want.
Now of course, those of us who believe in doing the right thing, will try to best represent what the data actually shows and interpret what it actually means, but all of us in this field work with other data analysts and executives who want to bend the interpretation to tell the story the way they want it to sound. It's a tough spot to be in the middle of sometimes.
uponit7771
(90,225 posts)... before looking into it now.
Ms. Toad
(33,915 posts)The question is phrased, "President has called . . . and said . . . do you agree?"
Yes, I agree "he has called the Special Counsels investigation a witch hunt and said hes been subjected to more investigations than previous presidents because of politics.
Answering that I agree to that factual assertion about what Trump has said indicates absolutely nothing about whether I believe that either of the statements he has repeatedly made are true.
uponit7771
(90,225 posts)... ok USA Today, you on the map for that ish
Papyro
(7 posts)Vox is correct.
Respondents might believe that they are being asked only whether Trump has been subjected to more investigation then past presidents.
USA today I was us all an apology and retraction.
TryLogic
(1,721 posts)Silver Gaia
(4,514 posts)My daughter was all upset about this article yesterday, which she called "disheartening." This is part of my reply to her:
Good grief! Their very wording admits their bias. They say "a 52 percent majority say they have little or no trust in the president's denials that his 2016 campaign colluded with Moscow" and call that an "improvenent" over a 57 percent majority last year. Improved for whom?! If they think a lower number is an "improvement," then their bias is pretty fucking obvious. Don't trust this. That's a propaganda tactic designed to make you feel discouraged, and I think the poll is skewed. It's an outlier. They WANT to demoralize and divide us.
I also said I wanted to see the actual question asked, how many people were polled, and the ratio of Democrats, Republicans and Independents polled. I could tell it was bogus right off the bat. Sheesh. Come on, news media! If I could see this, why didn't you? Do your damn job!
lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)An improvement for Putin, not so much for Americans.
Silver Gaia
(4,514 posts)keithbvadu2
(36,362 posts)There are many polls.
Pick the one you like and swear by it.
Swear at the others.
Ligyron
(7,592 posts)No, because it looks like he's a criminal and this needs to be investigated. Who knows if he's been subjected to more investigations? That would probably be a good guess though.
PupCamo
(288 posts)or better yet who approves them?
spanone
(135,633 posts)They have greatly enriched themselves on the trump insanity
why would they want it to stop?
janterry
(4,429 posts)It makes the results unreliable/not valid.
But it's not cheating.
lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)They spend huge sums of money to push this poll out, and nobody glanced at the questions to notice the bias? Come on.
janterry
(4,429 posts)n/t
Awsi Dooger
(14,565 posts)The result was being touted on sports sites everywhere, from chirping right wingers.
I had no idea it was such an awfully worded question that could only lead to two different perspectives being lumped together on one side.
I would expect that question to have perhaps 40-43% agreement, not 50%. The 40-43 is bad enough but at least it aligns with approval rating. This 50% was like an intentionally designed push, guaranteeing tons of related press.
ffr
(22,645 posts)Like the question states.
Poor integrity by USA Today. Shame!
George II
(67,782 posts)C Moon
(12,188 posts)applegrove
(118,015 posts)In the question if you pack the facts in there. Likely purposeful and they are manipulating an availability heuristic in many people's minds that the last or most recent thing is more salient. Heuristics are shortcuts in people's brains.
Ilsa
(61,675 posts)They stopped short of calling it a push poll, or accusing USA Today of being a tool for trump. But they said it was a garbage poll.
ck4829
(34,976 posts)Combining the questions into one, making it sound like one question on one end but another something else, etc., it usually reflects an agenda on the part of the poll-taker or an accident.
Which one was this?