How Sincere are Polling Responses and How Much Do We Misinterpret Them? | Politics with Paul #105

The reliability of polling responses is a crucial aspect of understanding public opinion. yet we must be careful reading too much into their results or stretching what the data says is an easy mistake to make. In this episode of Politics with Paul, we delve into the sincerity of polling responses and what makes a poll respondent trustworthy. The respondents in polls can be biased and incentivized to give opinions that aren't their completely true feelings. Even if they are fully sincere, however, public sentiment only has limited power. This episode also covers these ways that public sentiment can be biased, cases where respondents in polls may not be entirely forthright, the disconnect between public opinion and the willingness to take action, and why these factors can hamper or even prevent solutions to political problems.

Speakers

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Paul Rader

Host • 97%

Paul Rader

Host • 3%

Chapters

0:00	Introduction to Sincerity of Polling Responses
2:21	What Makes a Poll Respondent Trustworthy or Sincere?
6:18	Biases/Incentives that Influence Responses in Polling
7:38	Bias/Incentive #1: Social Desirability Bias
12:53	Bias/Incentive #2: Impact of the Wording of Questions
15:35	Bias/Incentive #3: Aspects of the Pollster Themselves
18:15	Bias/Incentive #4: Acquiescence Bias (Just Can't Say "No")
20:23	Bias/Incentive #5: Party and Ideological Biases
23:23	The Disconnect Between Public Opinion and Willingness to Act
31:17	Verdict: Are Responses in Polling Trustworthy?
32:50	Warning: Don't Read Too Far Into Public Opinion Results
36:26	Closing and Show Notes

Transcript

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