Sanity Check
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| Author | Topic: Sanity Check |
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? Man, ? Amazing
Member # 5755
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written Saturday, June 9 2007 13:04
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Well, this certainly turned out differently than I expected. I have long suspected that the people that respond to polls do so for different reasons. One reason is to see the results, another to provide honest opinion that will help answer whatever trendy question is being asked. And then there are those that answer differently. As in, chose answers which they believe are different than what should be expected. eg, those that answer Homeland to a favorite game poll. This poll was deliberately broken into two parts. The first part was two questions, dividing the respondants into infrequent and frequent forum visitors. The second part was asking how you answer the polls. Question one, for infrequent visitors, had four answers. 1. 25% responded that they will look at the poll and answer if it is easily done. 2. 25% responded that they answer every poll. 3. 38% responded that they rarely answer polls, but find them interesting reading. 4. 12% responded to the nonsense (sorry Nikki) answer that should have indicated that this question did apply (they were not infrequent visitors) Question 2, for obsessive-compulsive Spiderwebbers, also had four answers. 1. 20% own dogs. 2. 40% responded that they are typical poll respondants. 3. 13% are compulsive poll respondents. 4. 28% responded to the nonsense answer to indicate the question didn't apply to them. Question 3, asked if you lied in polls, and had four answers for the symmetry of it. 1. 21% had problems with the choices, and picked this one because it was closest to their feelings. 2. 26% had problems with the choices, and picked the one closest to their feeling. 3. 8% picked the most popular answer. 4. 46% responded that they will provide a less popular answer in order to bolster its percentage. Unfortunately, everyone seems to have not read the poll. Too many people are both frequent and infrequent visitors. With 34 votes in the first 18 hours, it is pretty odd that so few answered #4 on question 1. I would have expected that number to start high, and then remain steady over the course of time. Also, I could have been clearer about question 2, and that it applied only to the more compulsive among us (solidarity!) The use of the name Sally Wilson was too close to Brian Wilson, and may have missed the target, which was to signal, through the initials, that the SW forums are, in fact, the OCD therapist for some of us. Alas. Also, having two seemingly nonsense answers in this question was confusing. Apologies for that, the dog owner census question should have been omitted. Question 3 probably provided the most information, assuming people didn't lie disproportionately. Answers 1 and 2 should be selected by people that honestly answer polls, and 3 and 4 by the rest of us. They seem equally split, but it is likely that more people are generally honest, and fewer are dishonest than appear to be indicated here. Again, I fear it is because this poll was viewed as a farce. So, to summarize, SW members are more honest than dishonest on polls, but they tend to be quick to judgement and occasionally fail at reading comprehension. Most polls, unless carefully worded, are likely to provide useless data, and in general the internit is a poor place to poll people as there are no controls. I don't know how this would have turned out if it had been left open for this duration, but for the above reasons am not inclined to try it again. I had hoped to, through disguised answers, provide some useful data on the validity of polls. This would have helped correct ones which appeared to be skewed by anomolous data. (think Homeland) I still think that it would be useful, as the internit polling method still allows nitwits like me to answer polls that resemble dog puke with the wrongest answer they can imagine. -------------------- WWtNSD? Posts: 4114 | Registered: Monday, April 25 2005 07:00 |
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Skip to My Lou
Member # 40
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written Saturday, June 9 2007 14:03
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I'm still waiting for people to answer my invisible poll.  -------------------- Take the Personality Test! Deep down, you wish you were a stick figure. Posts: 1629 | Registered: Wednesday, October 3 2001 07:00 |
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Law Bringer
Member # 2984
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written Saturday, June 9 2007 14:22
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Um... isn't this a bit like giving out a survey with the question "Do you lie when answering surveys?"? -------------------- Encyclopaedia • Archives • Members • RSS [Topic / Forum] • Blog • Polaris • NaNoWriMo Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair. I have a love of woodwind instruments. Posts: 8752 | Registered: Wednesday, May 14 2003 07:00 |
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Agent
Member # 8030
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written Saturday, June 9 2007 14:40
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No; it was a psychology test, just poorly created. The poll had a flaw; as I own a dog and compulsively answer polls. Doesn't Synergy have a degree in psychology? Posts: 1384 | Registered: Tuesday, February 6 2007 08:00 |
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Shaper
Member # 6292
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written Saturday, June 9 2007 14:52
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What is your experience as you ask this question? ... I was operating under the assumption that this poll was complete mental wankery in the usual inscrutable Spalmonater style. Mind you, good mental wankery can be highly amusing fare. I am increasingly of the opinion that we are inclined to assign too much meaning and yet not enough meaning simultaneously to too much. -S- -------------------- A4 Items • A4 Singleton • G4 Items • G4 Forging • G4 Infiltrator • NR Items • The Lonely Celt Posts: 2009 | Registered: Monday, September 12 2005 07:00 |
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Agent
Member # 8030
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written Sunday, June 10 2007 16:24
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http://www.ironycentral.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=004165 Found it, you announced you had a degree in psychology. Posts: 1384 | Registered: Tuesday, February 6 2007 08:00 |
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? Man, ? Amazing
Member # 5755
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written Sunday, June 10 2007 19:46
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quote:I'm afraid this is a different question than you answered. -------------------- WWtNSD? Posts: 4114 | Registered: Monday, April 25 2005 07:00 |
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