Threads about Unscientific Polls on DU

[BurtWorm]

How do you feel about them?

[BurtWorm]

1. I should remind everyone that this is an unscientific poll

It is for entertainment purposes only.

[BurtWorm]

2. Oh my God!!! 60% of DUers are in favor of Unscientific Polls!!!

What's the world coming to?!!

[redqueen]

3. Didn't that crap start at Freeperland?

'Nuff said.

:eyes:

[BurtWorm]

4. I wonder why the poll is tilting so far toward those in favor of these

threads thus far. Is it because the unscientific poll people happen to be here now? Is it because the anti-unscientific poll people tend not to vote in polls? Is it because the moon is in the seventh house? Who knows?

[ProfessorGAC]

7. It's Because . . .

. . .while the polls themselves are not statistically valid, as a standalone entity, trends of these polls are still reasonable indicators of overall sentiment.

As the data set grows over a successive set of similar (they don't have to be identical) poll questions, the data smooths toward a central tendency by a factor of the square root of the moving average of the poll numbers. So, as internet polls increase in numbers, and the responses move in a single direction, the data does actually begin to take on increasing merit as a predictor of actual public sentiment.

So, it's not completely invalid to see positives or negatives in unscientific polls, as long as the view is broad and the time period is long enough to contain a series of related datasets.
The Professor

[redqueen]

10. Freepers and moles?

:evilgrin:

[Karenina]

5. Other

They are a COMPLETE waste of time, bandwidth and energy.

[Swamp Rat]

6. Other

Want some tea, man? :smoke:

[DrDebug]

9. Jah, man!

Printed in the U.S.A.
Cool :) Groovy :)

P.P.S. I voted lighten up :smoke:

[Swamp Rat]

12. Ganja good.

Cigarettes bad. :D :smoke:

[BurtWorm]

15. How did we get on this tangent?

:smoke:

Those look Mad. Or Cracked!

[Swamp Rat]

16. Wacky Packages, from the 70s

I hijacked your thread! HAHA! sucker! Eat some ditto-head bacon! :D

[BurtWorm]

17. It's only thread-jacked if I let it be thread-jacked!

D'oh!

[uppityperson]

8. I like them, can be a way of getting info or a message across

They can stimulate dialogue (productive at times even). They can get a point across by making people think and question why they think how they do. They are fun to read. They can be fun.

However, I don't like any poll that isn't absolutely fair and doesn't phrase the question or answers in the way I want or doesn't give me the eaxct response I want to give or doesn't let me rant on about whatever I think because I am Queen of the Universe and it just shouldn't be allowed that a poll-maker can ask anything and put their own rules on it because that just isn't fair to me so I don't want to participate because this is a push-poll and doesn't give me the choice I really want so wahhhhhhhhh

[amazona]

11. they are silly but entertainment is a valid part of internet

I doubt they are taken seriously by anyone.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[BurtWorm]

14. Except by those who urge us to run to MSNBC and DU a poll.

As though DUing a poll is as useful an activity as writing a letter to the editor or calling a Rep in Congress.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

13. I really think the poll feature on DU is about the most worthless feature

And one manipulated most by flamefest artist and trolls alike.
Furthermore, admin using that feature to take votes on issues related to the board is silly since it isn't a measure of anything since even disruptors who have never posted can vote on it.