Thursday Prompt: If you were a policymaker at the national level (President, Congressman/woman, etc.), how much importance would you put on the results of public opinion polls, like the one shown on the left? Defend your opinion showing your knowledge of polling, government, and our society in the Comments below (be sure to choose Name/URL to ensure your response is saved).
Expectation: one well-written paragraph.
I would put only enough importance on it to emphasize the fact that the best way to know what the people want is to ask them directly. However, the polling method can very often be far from accurate, so pollsters should be very cautious in how they conduct them. If the group is too narrow, people with no diversity when it comes to religions, cultures, and ideals, or a group that is too small, the results will very likely not be the same ones you would get if you asked the entire nation as a whole the same question. Yes, it is important to conduct these polls, but they are only beneficial if they are carried out efficiently and intelligently.
ReplyDeleteIf I were a congressperson at the national level, I would take national polls into consideration but with a grain of salt. National polls are an innovative way to get the general opinion of a nation. However, polls taken by Americans can be deceiving because the average citizen, as shown in other researches, is somewhat uneducated in the totality of the issue at hand. In addition, the main source of information to those citizens being polled is the news media wherein factual information about issues can be sensationalized and dramatized to their viewers. Thus resulting in a skew in the polling results.
ReplyDeleteIf I were a policy maker at the national level, I would more than likely, not pay too much attention to most public opinion polls because of their inaccuracy. Since most polls are written in a way that would persuade the public to answer the way that they wanted to hear and not what the public actually think. Unless the polls are accurately drawn then it is pointless to see the results. To prevent only hearing from a certain 'kind' of people (certain group of people with the same beliefs) the polls should reach a wide range of people.
ReplyDeleteI would weigh public opinion importantly on certain social issues, such as gun control, marriage equality, and drug legalization. It's important for the lawmakers to be in touch with the needs and wills of the people their laws affect. On the flip side I believe there are certain issues, that shouldn't be swayed by public opinion, such as privacy of the individual, black and white constitutionally laid out rights, and government transparency (which the public seems to be in support of any way). I believe that the public tends to rush into believing things, without total information. We rushed into supporting the McCarthy blacklist, Guantanamo, and the Vietnam War, none of which are bright spots in our nations past.
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ReplyDeleteFor this poll specifically, I wouldn't trust it as a policy maker. The American people don't like to have their privacy taken away from them, so it's a bit weird seeing high polls saying to investigate, despite intrusion of policy. This poll doesn't show responses of the "don't know" people. Also, the data doesn't show the variability in the people that have been chosen to give their opinions. I know that government wants to go by the people's opinion, or else there will be mutiny, but, polling isn't always secure. I, as a policy maker would probably choose a more reliable poll to base my judgements on, so that I can make the right decision for the people and for the safety of the country.
ReplyDeleteI would put moderate importance on the public opinion polls. While POPs can be a useful tool to measure how the public feels, it can also be inaccurate. Public opinion can be swayed with fair ease, you just have to exploit the right event in the right way.
ReplyDeleteAs a policymaker, I would put a great deal of importance into polls of this nature. More specifically when they concern hot topics such as investigating terrorist threats, or abortion, and so on and so forth. Public opinion polls are of extreme importance mainly because it gives a very "upfront" view of how the people view certain issues and how they'd want them to be handled, and that would leave policymakers like me to take advantage of their opinions as to strengthen my platform.
ReplyDeleteI feel that if you are a elected official in our government, you need to pay attention to public polls to some extent. However, understanding that these polls may not always be accurate due to the fact that many citizens are uninformed as to what is happening in our government. Listening to the people is how you got elected in the first place, you should want to listen to the people and try to represent their voice as best you can. Many citizens can be easily persuaded, which can hurt the integrity of the poll, and make it an unreliable source of information. Overall I probably wouldn't put public polls at the top of my list of importance as an elected policy maker.
ReplyDeleteIf I were a policymaker at the national level, and I was collecting public opinions such as the one in the poll above I would most likely say that it is obviously more important to the people to investigate terrorist threats rather than worry about their privacy. Over the three months it is clear that more than 60% of people say to neglect their privacy. Now, although 6o% is just barely over half, it is still apparent that the majority of people would like to investigate terrorist threats. However, most Americans are uneducated and many polls are swayed easily, I'm guessing that the people heard of beheadings and are scared, then the people want to investigate to hunt down ISIS. But, the real question is how much of a threat is ISIS to the U.S.? Well, since the people are unaware of the finer details of ISIS they are likely to think the threat is larger than it may actually be. So in conclusion, as a policymaker I would take into account that more than half of the people surveyed want to investigate those terrorists but I would also need to take into account what type of people were surveyed, and what true information those people actually know. For all we know, the poll may have only selected high school students to survey, which would dramatically change the results compared to random selectivity. And for that matter, many people don't even know about these terrorist threats and as it is shown on the poll, the "Don't Know" percentage is not shown. Clearly, this poll may give off misleading or uneducated information to the public.
ReplyDeleteIf I was a policymaker at the national level, I honestly would put a lot of importance on the results of the public opinion polls. These polls come from the public and every persons input counts in my opinion. I don't really have anymore to say.
ReplyDeleteThe level of importance that I would put on the results of public opinion polls would be a significant amount. As a policymaker, it helps to get a general idea of the what the public is demanding, and to see over time, if results have changed or have remained consistent. This would let me know how the public opinion may have changed over the years. On an issue about the invasion of privacy, this would be of concern to me, and I would notice that more than half the amount of voters care more about the protection of our country, than caring about being intruded on in terms of privacy. I would take this in to account and accomodate this fact. I believe that in general, protection against terrorism is generally a smart idea that is more important, so I would agree with the results of this poll.
ReplyDeletethe public opinion importance weighs down on social issues, no matter the issue i think the public should have the ability to influence things around them weather just in our country or around the world. the public is the people, without the people our country isnt what it was ment to be.
ReplyDeleteIf I was a policy maker at the national level, I would really take the public opinion in to consideration because as a policy maker, I am working for the people and what the people want I should really care about that. But I know that their is going to be margin of error in the polls because usually people follow whatever answer is winning because they don't want to shamed on for their opinion. Also, they might not even have any background information to lead off on the question being asked and just choosing the answer that everyone tends to side with. It's very hard to give your opinion when you don't know much about the topic. The people might also misread the question or it's hard to understand that could be another reason of inaccuracy. After all, I would still consider the public opinion polls because it does give you a source of information what the people care for more. It is showing that the people are important and their opinion matters.
ReplyDeleteIf i was a policy maker id make sure that i got as much public opinion as i possibly could. Especially if i was making a policy that would effect the people i would want and need to know what the people think(if they like it or not) or if/how it might effect them for the good or for the bad). I would be making policies that may or may not effect the people as a whole or even a select few so i need to know not only what my fellow government officials believe but what middle and lower class people think. so i would definitely put in the extra effort to get accurate polls.
ReplyDeleteIf I were a policymaker at the national level I would not pay much attention to polling because they're results can be so skewed. For one, a growing number of people are now choosing to not participate in public polls because they do not have to. With the advent of caller ID, people can see who is calling, and a large number of people tend not to respond to poll calls, which means this demographic is not being represented in the polling. Also, public opinion is incredibly easy to sway in one direction. Many people "jump on the bandwagon" because they think that they should conform to what others think. For example, Ebola has started to incite a small hysteria because one person in the US has contracted it. How truly dangerous this is is not really clear, but many people now consider a major issue because an American has it, where as before they didn't care. So, as a policymaker, I would look at public polls because they do offer a glimpse of what the people think, however I would not place much importance on it because the numbers are so skewed.
ReplyDeleteI would make a public opinion polls very important. But before that I would try and give people the back ground knowledge about the topic first because obviously some of the population now has no idea what the poll is even about and vote anyways for the sake of their voices being heard. I would also make sure that whatever people wanted to be heard will be heard because not every poll is read and sometimes polls aren't as accurate as they should be because of some tweeks people put on them.
ReplyDeleteThe data shows that over half of the population wishes to investigate upon terrorist threats, not caring if the government has to intrude upon privacy. This data can be misleading as the question proses two complete opposites: either investigate threats or intrude on privacy. The polar opposites don't give room for a middle ground and this can force one opinion upon the people. But in another instance, we can see that the voting results are incredibly similar over the 8 year span. This proves that the people have continuously wanted the same thing. Although this proves consistency, the data would still not sway my opinion as a policymaker. Americans are not as informed on what terrorists are doing in comparison to government officials and therefore lack the knowledge to decide upon how far to go to in investigating threats. In my personal opinion, we would invade privacy to investigate threats as far as the government thinks necessary, but as a policymaker, the data would not change my opinion.
ReplyDeleteIf I was a policymaker at a national level, I would show great importance to the public opinion polls because it is what the citizens think although it may only a small majority of the people living in the Unites States. These polls show what the people are demanding. The graph on the left shows that in every year in 2006, 2010, and 2013, more than 60% of the people who took the poll believe that the government should investigate terrorists threats and more importantly neglect the privacy each citizen had living in America. If this public opinion poll is by random sampling then the accuracy of the poll is very high. But overall, the importance of these polls if I was a policymaker would be greatly significant.
ReplyDeleteIf I were a policymaker I would put some importance to public opinion polls because it gives the citizens of America a voice on current events/topics. The cons of having a public polls it like any other poll the people who are polling should be diverse and should not be narrow. But, it has a pro because of how the poll question is never biased.
ReplyDeleteAs a national policymaker, I would regard what the public has to think because I'm representing what they think. However, I wouldn't always go with what the majority of the public believes, because it can intrude on individual's rights. Like this poll, I would disregard it because "investigating terrorism" would infringe on people's right to privacy. Also, I would look at more polls conducted in the area that I'm representing, like the state of Washington if I'm a senator, because it's my job to represent them.
ReplyDeletePolls can't be ignored. However, being in a position of elected representation means the people trust me enough to make decisions and prioritize with my own ideas.
ReplyDeleteIf I was a policymaker at the national level, I would put high importance on the results of public opinion polls. Our government has always had the policy, "By the people, for the people" Its set up to work with the citizens in the country. It would be my job to ensure I was representing the people and trying to find the issues most important to them to conquer first, otherwise I would be wasting my time trying to solve problems that a minority deems important when it sometimes isn't a big deal. To be the devil's advocate, I would only pay close attention to the random polling. It gives a more accurate view into what the people really want from a variety rather than what a small group wants. Overall, the public's opinion would be very important to me and I would make it a high priority to keep up with what the people want because that is what my job would be.
ReplyDeleteIf I was a national level policymaker, I would look at the public polls and take them into consideration, but wouldn't let them sway my intentions too much. Polls do have value, as they allow policymakers to measure public opinion. However, they can't be taken too seriously because there are multiple defects in the system. For one, there can be issues with the sample size and its accuracy in representing the entire group. The wording of the questions can also potentially skew results. These are both issues that compromise the accuracy of the poll, and reasons why decisions shouldn't be based on them. In addition to these obstacles, public opinion can be easily swayed, so the data from the poll now could be very different from the data later, making the information an even poorer basis for policies. While policymakers should be responsive to the public and their wants and needs, polls are not the most accurate way to represent that, and therefore should be considered, but taken in with a grain of salt.
ReplyDeleteIf I was a policymaker, polls would not sway my policy but the wants of the people would still be taken into consideration (most likely its implication). In the poll above, I would use the peoples judgement to help define what they believe is morally right. If they believe that finding terrorists is more important than privacy, then I could better understand what the people believe is necessary and are willing to accept. Yet just because the citizens want these terrorists found doesn't mean that I will become a follower rather than a leader and just do as they say. I will take the request of the people into account, but when it comes down to it, I would not completely alter my policy just to conform to one poll. This would be doing what's popular or jumping on the "bandwagon" rather than doing what is right for the nation. I would consider what the people want, but essentially I would not change just to meet their desires.
ReplyDeleteI would not pay much attention to the public polls because I would not be able to rely on their results. Many of the poll takers in today's age are very uninformed on many topics as well as a possible low accuracy of the poll. This chart does not say how many people were surveyed or how. Polls are taken in a variety of ways which can either help or destroy how accurate they are. For example, the questions could be asked with a particular wording to edge the person into answering a certain way. Limitations apply to results as well by many people (7% of the population) not having phones which are how most polls are conducted. These are just some of the aspects that can make poll results answer a different way compared with the actual want of the people. In today, I feel that there are too many different factors going into taking polls making their accuracy much harder to get right. Polls were a good system at a certain time when there was less technology and other factors influencing their results.
ReplyDeleteI said i would demonstrate great importance to the public union polls. Because it is important what the people have to think in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteAs a policymaker at the national level I would not put a high level of importance on public opinion polls. I believe that public opinion polls are not very beneficial, because they don't always have a very large variety of poll takers. Some polls ask questions that may be answered by one majority group, so they create a biased result. Of course, if I were a policymaker at the government level, depending on the circumstance, a poll may be helpful in gathering results for the issue being discussed. It allows for you to get a better understanding of what the public views are. Considering that not every issue that the nation faces will directly affect the public people, makes it so that the priority level of using their opinions based off of polls will not always be necessary.
ReplyDeletePublic opinion polls are very important, mainly because they are an easy way to see what the people think are important. Since Congress isn't really listening to the people right now, the people are very angry. It's important for a policymaker to know what is important to the people they represent, so polls are definitely important for that. Even so, polls can be biased, so they might not show a true set of opinions. But they are still good for obtaining information.
ReplyDeleteIf I was a national policy maker, I would pay special attention to public polls. It's important to know how the people that I am governing think and feel, and therefore their opinions should matter.However, I know that not everybody puts a lot of thought into the poll, or they don't answer seriously. In this case, the polls would not be my main priority, but I think it's important to at least look at the results and evaluate them.
ReplyDeleteAs a policymaker at the national level, I would put a little/decent amount of importance on the results of the public opinion. I wouldn't put a high level of importance on public opinion polls because there are a lot of people who don't participate in polling. Pollsters are only able to reach poll takers who are willing to vote. As technology advances, it's more difficult to obtain results from a wider variety of poll takers since a lot of Americans are using cell phones instead of home phones and now with caller ID, they do not have to answer the phone... it's easy to simply hangup. However, I would put a little amount of importance on public opinion polls because it still helps to get an idea of what a part of the population has in mind on certain issues.
ReplyDeleteI would put a lot of importance in them, but I would not change how I felt about the subject based on results. Now if I were just trying to keep my policymaking status, then I would side with the majority so that (hopefully) I would get more votes. I don't think many people would notice I'm wishy washy about the topic, and they would just see what I support in the now. Disregarding my own personal opinions, I would also put importance in the polls because if they were done correctly and with random people, the results would be accurate and I would have more people who want me in my place of power. In regard to how I would personally do things, I would look at results, think about my own opinion, and be done with it.
ReplyDeleteAs a policymaker, I personally would not put too much emphasis on the results of public opinion polls. Since their is always a margin of error. Along with whether or not the American people support or don't support a specific policy, sometimes it's better to go against what the public thinks they want and give them something that will be beneficial to them in the long run. Another reason I would not rely on public opinion polls is because their is usually some type of bias, which can be caused by the wording of some of the questions that pollsters asks an individual; thus persuading them to answer one way instead of another. But a public poll would be useful when it comes to prioritizing which policies you should probably work on first, so that the general public don't feel like their thoughts are being ignored.
ReplyDeleteIf I were a policymaker at a high level of government, I wouldn't put a lot of my confidence in public opinion polls. The sample of people that are now answering the questions isn't large enough to accurately predict the real opinion of the public. The polls can give you a small glimpse into what the citizens are thinking, but you shouldn't trust them to predict the result on point. Push polls and small sample polls make it hard for the people interviewing to gain correct information from the public. They can give you some insight, but don't place all of hopes in the results.
ReplyDeleteAs a policy maker the polls would be able to inform me of the average opinion most Americans have on a topic. However I wouldn't rely very much on the polls because they typically aren't accurate. The poll above for example doesn't say how many people participated in answering the question meaning it could simply be a small bias group of Americans. Many polls are inaccurate depending on the number of people and the diversity of the people asked to participate. Over all though when a poll is conducted "fairly" they are useful for letting policymakers know the average citizens opinion on a subject matter, but this still shouldn't be the most prominent deciding factor in their decision making process.
ReplyDeleteThe best way to know what people want, is to ask them directly so these polls are a good idea. The pollsters just need to be cautious when they set these polls up. They can't have a narrow group, as in people who all share the same values amongst each other. A small group would just be too small of an amount to work with. They also need lots of diversity amongst races, cities, and ages. The downside to polls is that they can also be completely wrong about a subject and provide little to no insight on the matter. So I would put moderate concern on polls.
ReplyDeleteIf I had power at the national level, I wouldn't try to focus too much on the results from public polls. Although my job would be to represent the people, I have a brain too and I'm going to use it for my policymaking decisions. Now I'm not saying that I would completely ignore what the public is saying, I just wouldn't rely on the results to sway my actions. For example, if I had to make the choice as to whether we continue to investigate terrorist related items, but intrude on privacy, and 34% Americans say we shouldn't, I would take that into account when making my decision. But it wouldn't be the main factor in my decision making process. Yes, we see ourselves as a democracy so that if the people want it should happen, but public polls are not always very accurate, and don't always show a good span of the nation's population. This means the polls aren't a very reliable source anyways to get material for making important policy making decisions.
ReplyDeletePublic opinion polls are very important because it shows how the public as a whole thinks about a certain topic. Policymakers should see public opinion polls as important when deciding something because the people are who is going to have to live with the policies they decide to make. Some polls may be biased because a certain group of people may be answering the questions more than those who don't care what the decision is. Either way, public opinion polls aren't something that should be brushed off. They should be taken seriously, since the polls represent some of what the public is thinking.
ReplyDeleteIf i were a policy maker i would understand that polls, when used effectively and are accurate, are of a fairly high importance in the framing of our government and creating of new laws. If the results are skewed or inaccurate however, these polls can be quite the opposite and must be disregarded. It all comes down to that accuracy, and if a wide enough range of people were polled. Now, if we put all question on accuracy aside and say we have a perfect poll, this pole should be very important to me as a policy maker because it should be able to give me a good idea of what the country is thinking and the countries opinions on matters such as policy and who they want to lead. It will help the countries policy makers to create a government that best suits that of the needs of the people by helping to show the policy makers what that majority opinion might be. These polls, even though not directly, can help to create a government by the people, when without them policy makers might be left in the dark not knowing what the people want.
ReplyDeleteFor policymakers on the national level, public opinion polls shouldn't be the turning point for extremely important issues such as the threat of terrorism. While these polls give a general idea of the concerns of the public it is not always very accurate. The sample size may not be large enough to have a true variety of responses. A sample may be dominant in those with a strong support for defense and may leave out the large number of Americans who are more cautious towards military actions. Also sometimes the questions asked in polls are twisted to get a certain response and then make results less reliable. Random sampling is key to public polls and if it is not sufficient it will not give accurate data from the public to the policy makers. Policy makers should consider what is best for the country as well as what the public wishes because there is importance in both areas to a nation's policy and decision making.
ReplyDeleteI personally think that public opinions polls can be very important but, sometimes they are not very beneficial. As my understanding right now it is fairly difficult to grab majority of peoples attention and get them to vote. I understand that those who do vote count for the majority of the people and their votes are very important. I believe those who do want to participate should be heard in one way or another and their thoughts and ideas are just as important. Although, because not everyone is willing to participate sometimes the results of the polls may be very biased by only one group choosing to vote. Therefore, I think as a policymaker I would say that the public opinion polls are not very important on some circumstances.
ReplyDeletePublic opinion polls may be helpful in some sense but they don't predict exactly what will happen in the future. They are accurate enough where you can get a good idea of what the public thinks but on the other side you can't depend on them too much because they can be warped in many ways. Polls may not accurately reflect the diverse population we have or they may not have enough opinions to really tell what the entirety of the public believes. Also, the citizens are aloud to change their minds. They may say they agree with one candidate one day and then the other the next which can be partly because they are uniformed or they suddenly change their opinion due to something a candidate does. Paying attention to public opinion is important but if I were a policymaker I wouldn't put all my faith in polls.
ReplyDeleteFrom my knowledge of polling, I believe that public polling results should be acknowledged and and accounted for but it shouldn't be very important to policymaking at the national level. If I were a policy maker at that level I would use the results as a reference but it wouldn't be really important in my decisions. This is because public opinion polls are inaccurate and can show error. People who answer polls may be uneducated or uninformed of the situation but vote anyway. And some pollers may be just following the popular choice, thus leading to inaccurate results. Although there are many faults to polls, I believe that they shouldn't be entirely ignored though. As inaccurate they may be, they still hold the people's views and opinions and as a democracy we must honor their voice and say. Overall, polls wouldn't be so important in policymaking at the national level but it would still be looked at at least.
ReplyDeleteIf I was a policymaker, I would put a lot of importance on the results of public opinion polls. I would do this because it gives them a voice in our government's decisions, especially since they are the people who chose to put me in office. And what message does it send if we go against what the public wants? Over the last few decades, political participation has been at an all-time low. No one is taking the time to become a knowledgeable voter, let alone even vote. What message does it send to the public if they vote a majority on a certain issue, but the policymakers go against that? People would feel like their votes wouldn't matter, and would be discouraged to continue to participate in our government. And, when there is no participation, we don't always get the best candidates put into office. It's a chain reaction...
ReplyDeleteAs a policymaker, I would think that the importance of public opinion polls are not too much to worry about. Not many citizens participate in the polls, I would only take interest in it, if a mass majority of the public participates in the polls, for me to understand what the people are thinking and believing. I believe that is great for the public to participate in these polls, but I think that it would do no good if no people take a little time out of the day to take the polls. I would think the people wouldn't want to take some time out of their day to be asked a few questions anyway. Its always good to know what the public is thinking. If I were to be at national level, I would highly encourage the public to take some time and answer these questions, and show me what they believe. Its another good way of hearing what the people think and want. I believe the people still won't participate, so I think it is not always the best for the high level of government people to hear. Only if the people decide to change, then it will probably be taken into account.
ReplyDeleteI would look at public opinion polls such as this as a way to determine what the majority of Americans might think about a certain topic. I wouldn't take it as the answer to everything and believe, such as in this poll, that Americans don't really care about their privacy. I look at this as an outline rather than absolute fact. I know that not every person in America is able to be polled and some of the results could have errors, such as a lack of diversity in the people that take the poll or the poll itself pushes pollers to answer a certain way. I'd take it as incentive to dive more into the issues that the nation is facing. I might have another poll made that goes into depth within a certain topic, such as security and privacy. Polls are more a method to gain data quickly, that can then be used as a running start to solve national issues. They shouldn't be seen as the viewpoint that every American has on a problem and while quick, they are not the most accurate way of gathering data.
ReplyDeleteIf I were a policymaker at the national level I would put a great deal of importance on public opinion polls. My only stipulation would be to thoroughly check the validity of the poll. If a poll is taken on a fair amount of the US population with a small percent error then I see no reason not to use it in influencing my decisions which are meant to represent the general public. From what I've seen in researching polls there are many reputable sources for polling information that can give an accurate idea of what the public wants to see happen. As a representative it is my job to help achieve that. Every issue that I decide on is going to effect them in some way and it is only fair that I take their opinions into consideration. Our society is often described as a melting pot, many of my classmates seem to think that a poll cannot accurately represent the views of all the people we have because they are too biased, too small, too inefficient. Polls can be conducted quite quickly over the internet as we've seen taking polls and quizzes during the start of Mr. Groen's class on multiple occasions. A study of around 1000 people gives a fairly open opportunity for every walk of life to be represented. When they aren't or when people aren't trust worthy, the polling companies report it in their margin of error. That can all be taken into consideration while analyzing it. In my opinion it is our representatives responsibilities to us to analyze these polls in order to take our opinions into consideration, just as I would.
ReplyDeleteIf I were a policy maker at the national level I would stress the fact that these opinion polls are very important because they give feedback on issues right away and easily help show the choices of the majority. This also helps get the voice of the people out there in a very simple and efficient way all you have to do is choose your side on the topic or issue. Some polls may lean one way or another but they still carry important information that can be key to help policy makers in their decisions because it shows what the people stand for on any of the given topics. Although some polls may not have many participants, the ones that do have many participants give you a solid basis on what the people think, therefor I would say polls are pretty important.
ReplyDeleteAs a policymaker at the national level, I would put a medium level of importance on the results of public opinion polls. Although these polls can be very helpful in figuring out what the citizens of the United States want or believe, with these polls having a selection process of equality, there are a lot of things wrong with public opinion polls today. With the technology we have, it is very easy for a citizen to NOT have their opinion expressed in polls. A big reason for this is because of cell phones. Young voters are more willing to answer their cell phones and express their opinions to pollsters, however the older voters are a lot more wary of answering these calls, making it difficult for pollsters to receive their opinions. Many people today are followers, and "bandwagon" on many things, including politics. Therefore I would place medium level of importance on these public opinion polls due to the flaws that public opinion polls have.
ReplyDeleteIf i was a policy maker, i would take public opinion polls somewhat seriously and take them into importance. It's always good to see what the people want, and what their opinions are. If your making policies for the people, you're going to need the peoples input so you can do what's right for them and not just what you think for yourself. You can't take their input too seriously though because most people these days are very uneducated on whats actually happening in the world. Yeah they can vote for what they think would be right but they don't know any background information about the topic. It's better for the policy maker, who is very educated to do what he thinks. The people aren't always right. But at the same time you don't want to make the people mad by doing the complete opposite of what they want. You just have to do what's right but also take the peoples opinions into consideration.
ReplyDeleteAs a policy maker at the national level I would not consider the public opinion polls as very important because the results can be very inaccurate and bias. The public opinion polls are not a reliable source for determining what exactly it is the people want. People can be so easily persuaded by the wording of the poll question and people often times follow the majority crowd. So this can cause the results to be greatly skewed and not an accurate representation of the people.
ReplyDeleteAs a political leader for the country, I would take polls into consideration because they are public opinion, but the reality is that there are several ways for polls to be inaccurate including an extremely small sample size like that of the poll given as an example. They give a slight glimpse into public open, and a glimpse that is very often skewed due to the bias of the question or the area in which the question is asked. To truly trust the poll I would need to thoroughly examine the poll to say how accurate it is.
ReplyDeleteIf I was given the opportunity to be a national policymaker, I would put a great deal of importance on the results of public opinion polls. This is because as a lawmaker, it would be my job to serve the interests and needs of the population, and one of the best ways see what people want/believe is a non-biased poll. In addition, it can be difficult to gauge the opinions of the populace based on voting, since such a small percentage of qualified adults vote. Polls can tell us what people think without people having to do anything other than answer a few questions on the phone. However, that being said, I would not base my decisions entirely off polls, since only a relatively small number of people are asked, and some people will change their answers based on what the believe to be politically correct. Also, regardless of what polls report, I would have a responsibility to do what I thought was best for the country even if many people disagreed with me. For example, polls may show that a large percentage of Americans don't believe in the existence of global warming, but that doesn't change the fact that it is a threat to the country and needs to be addressed. Public opinion id important, but it must be taken with a grain of salt.
ReplyDeleteI think that public polls like this one are very important because it shows what the people of the U.S. actually think about a touchy topic. Although some pollsters, reword questions until they get the answer they would like to see, I feel public polls still have a strong purpose in maintaining a good representation of the people. Along with that its extremely easy to get a general out look on what people think from medium to largish groups, so it makes it way easier with figuring out where people will stand on certain policies.
ReplyDeleteIf I was a policymaker at the national level I would put a high level of importance on public opinion polls. Because polls use random sampling it includes a decent variety of different ethnicities, backgrounds,etc. and it's very important to know what Americans think as a policymaker. Public opinion polls are useful when debating controversial topics if the majority of people want something done as a policymaker since I work for the people it would be my job to give them what they want. In our government the government serves the people so if a majority of people want something I believe they should get it.
ReplyDeleteIf I were a policymaker on a national level, I would not rely on polling as a valuable source. Public opinion polling is not accurate, because the variety of polls and poll takers do not vary enough. Poll takers may be bias, and uninformed people are taking the polls. Others may be influenced by others opinions, and not give there own opinions. There are also many factors playing a role in polling, which leads to inaccuracy. The percentage of Americans without phones is 7%, therefore random digit dialing for polling, is not getting those 7%'s opinions. Other Americans may not answer their phones when they see a telemarketer number. Although polling may provide a voice for the people, I do not think it is an accurate way to do so.
ReplyDeleteWhile polls are a great way to get a feel of the public's general opinion, the negative effects of bandwagoning and wordsmithing make polls somewhat unreliable. With a credible source, I would put some importance on these polls, but I wouldn't use these results to craft a national policy or develop a plan for change. Rather, I would watch the change in public opinion as other events pass to gauge how I should change current policies, and if there's a dramatic change in public opinion, then I would take the initiative to create a policy that would follow their trend.
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