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From: falk@sun.uucp (Ed Falk)
Newsgroups: net.misc
Subject: "High Shool Assignment -- Survey -- please respond
Message-ID: <3297@sun.uucp>
Date: Thu, 27-Feb-86 20:45:12 EST
Article-I.D.: sun.3297
Posted: Thu Feb 27 20:45:12 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 1-Mar-86 17:39:05 EST
References: <1414@decwrl.DEC.COM>
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Lines: 18


  I remember once, there was a survey on freedom of speach that asked
something like "do you think people should be allowed to write things
against the government?".  A wide majority of respondents answered "no".
This disturbed civil libertarians quite a bit until someone got the
bright idea of asking "do you think people should be prohibited from
writing things against the government?".  This question got a similiar
majority of people to answer "no".  What this test showed was how much of a
difference it makes how you pose the question, and how little you should
trust opinion polls.

  I remember getting a poll in my mailbox curtesy of some right-wing
politician which had the questions phrased in such a way that you
had to answer things his way or wind up feeling like some kind of
long-haired-commie-type pinko-fag.  I was furious, because I knew that
this politician would wind up using the results of this biased poll
to justify some sort of inanity he was planning to foist upon us.
		-ed falk, sun microsystems