Too many polls?

[ziggy12345]

See the title

[DominicJ]

Maybe our one poller could restrict himself a bit?

[clv101]

I think Adam Polczyk's been hired to characterise the PowerSwitch community!

Adam, could you gather all the results together into one new thread with some thoughts/analysis?

[Ben]

I question the validity of this poll!

Many people who "hate polls" will not wish to take part in the survey. Therefore, however many people select that option, it will almost certainly be under reported.

Also - anyone who selects "Never expresses an opinion in a poll" are explicitly (and somewhat perversly) making known that they DO sometimes express their opinion in a poll. These votes are invalid. I suggest these votes are shared out equally between the other two options.

[waermund]

I thought all the polls were going home again?

[Jakell]

I was thinking of posting this very poll myself. I am coming to dislike polls.

I don't see them as a good way of arriving at deeper truths, which is being attempted on here. They are ok for small things eg favourite colour, should we ban so and so, voting etc.

They may stimulate discussion, but why not start off that way. Seems a bit more straightforward.

[Jakell]

We have nine votes, five of which are from people who never vote in polls.

[oilslick]

I think Adam Polczyk's been hired to characterise the PowerSwitch community!

Adam, could you gather all the results together into one new thread with some thoughts/analysis?

I think he should keep all the results in the poll vault

[ziggy12345]

Some got it, some didnt.

I like the poll vault quote best.

I thought there would be a comment about poll dancing. No?

[Vortex]

I have nothing against polls as long as:
a: they are well designed ... and I do mean VERY VERY well designed, with a knowledge of the problem domain and also information elicitation skills.
b: they are SHORT

I regularly receive poll/questionnaires from several organisations and they invariably seem to have been written by a teenager in a rush to get a homework assignment done.

Example:

Question 1431:
Which colour do you prefer?
a: green
b: red
c: cornflower
d: grey

Err ... what if I prefer orange?
Or maybe I'm colour blind?
Or totally blind?
Or perhaps I don't realise cornflower is a blue?
And is grey a colour or not?
And what if I like green AND red equally?
What if I have different preferences for transmitted colours and reflected colours?
What if I don't understand the question?
Or if I don't want to answer?
And can I see that this question is useful in the context of the poll/questionnaire and not just a spurious waste of space?
And have I lost the will to live by question 1431?


PS Do we need a poll tax?

[emordnilap]

We have nine votes, five of which are from people who never vote in polls.

Not true: they never express their opinion in a poll. Not the same thing at all.

[Vortex]

Actually, a quick scan of recent posts show that we have become INFESTED with polls ...

[JohnB]

Actually, a quick scan of recent posts show that we have become INFESTED with polls ...

Surely a post and a poll are pretty much the same thing.

Polls are very useful. You can hang washing lines, electricity and phone cables between them, build poll barns out of them, Led Zeppelin sung about a Gallows Poll, people dance round them.

They're also used to elect the government. Oh OK, that use doesn't seem to achieve good results

[Neily at the peak]

I feel the polls actually lighten the tone a bit, and also help me to see that occasionally others see things the same as I do which can help to ease the burden that we bear.

Neil

[snow hope]

I have declined to vote in this poll. But wanted to let you all know by posting my thoughts!