Canadian Public Opinion Polls on Afghanistan
- Thread starter Edward Campbell
- Start date
- Reaction score
- 51
- Points
- 530
Shamrock said:
Yep, and like I said in my earlier post ---
Polls like this always tend to be "leaning" especially with a "sentimental holiday (ie Christmas)" coming up or in the immediate aftermath of the loss of one of our fellow soldiers.
MOST people want loved ones close to them at Holiday time --- it's only natural that that sentimentality would be reflected in the results of a poll question about do you want the "troop to come home to Canada" a mere week before Christmas.
I'd move, that had the same question been asked 3 weeks earlier -- that confidence interval was WELL below that 50% line.
Statistics, damn statistics, and lies. Polls, misleading polls, and (for the left commissioning the polls) ... impeccable timing.
- Reaction score
- 1
- Points
- 460
Maybe those polled would care to live under the Taliban for a month in a corruptly governed country? Oh, and maybe some of the "western" women would enjoy a week under Taliban "guidance"?
I strongly feel that our brothers and sisters are doing a righteous job in A-stan, if anything, in a peacemaking role to bring stability to the country.
I could be out to lunch??!!
Just my $0.02 worth.
edited to add: easy vern, don't blow a gasket...have a beer and breath...cheers, ///D
I strongly feel that our brothers and sisters are doing a righteous job in A-stan, if anything, in a peacemaking role to bring stability to the country.
I could be out to lunch??!!
Just my $0.02 worth.
edited to add: easy vern, don't blow a gasket...have a beer and breath...cheers, ///D
- Reaction score
- 51
- Points
- 530
ixium said:
Actually ... I'm going to have to disagree here. If it were "just soldiers" polled --- it'd be no more unbiased (actually less-so than a "random" poll) because how would you be able to determine uncategoricly that soldiers weren't just "toeing the official line"?
Mind you -- The vast majority of the troops I know believe that we are doing the right thing and that this mission is just ... I just don't think you'd see the Left in this nation "buying" into the notion that soldiers "answered honestly" when polled rather than answered questions in a manner which support the reigning government." Some people after all, do really believe that we soldiers have no individual speech or decision making abilities and that the concept of free and critical thinking is non-existant in our breed.
- Reaction score
- 25
- Points
- 430
BYT Driver said:
They have been known to do that. Several people have posted that they have had pollsters hang up on them when they may have answered a question in a manner that the pollster may not have wanted. I remember one hanging up on me, when I answered that I was in favour of something, which I guess they didn't want to hear.
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 210
I have to agree with Vern on this one. The timing of when the pole was taken obviously affected the outcome most definately. At the same time it could also make you wonder if that was the whole intent (being have it at a sentimental time of year so that there would be a bias of sorts). Secondly it was taken on the internet. How do they know it was all Canadians that voted? Trace all the IP's? Weed out the ones that are not from Canadian ISP's? We have Americans, Germans, Australians and other various nationalities visiting a web site about the Canadian Army. I can go to pretty much any page on the internet. The point here being as others have said with the variables and draw backs of online polling, how do we know the data collected is a fair representation of Canada.
You know come to think of it, 1,052 people voted. Considering Statistics Canada estimates the population of Canada at the time of this post being 33,142,754 thats a rather small representation of Canada. Of course you take into consideration youths and minors under the age of 18. However that still is a very small representation. As well whats to say that youths did not take place in this online poll? I know highschools that have more people in them than the total on the poll. And this is making news saying its what all Canadians want? The media IMO needs a good kick in the ass.
You know come to think of it, 1,052 people voted. Considering Statistics Canada estimates the population of Canada at the time of this post being 33,142,754 thats a rather small representation of Canada. Of course you take into consideration youths and minors under the age of 18. However that still is a very small representation. As well whats to say that youths did not take place in this online poll? I know highschools that have more people in them than the total on the poll. And this is making news saying its what all Canadians want? The media IMO needs a good kick in the ass.
- Reaction score
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- Points
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The online poll is insignificant - we've already proven on this very site that online polls can be skewed by a determined group of persons to reflect whatever message we want to send, and none of the poll results we did skew (which were promptly ignored by the host site) were given as much attention as the anti-mission results...
- Reaction score
- 25
- Points
- 430
Greymatters said:
Just look at this topic on Martin Schoots-McAlpine and wonder what his group may have been up to, or some of the other groups and fanatics we have seen visit this site from time to time.
- Reaction score
- 18,343
- Points
- 1,360
From the original article:
Looking at this differently, at least Canadians understand that there are a number of NATO nations that are pulling far less than their respective weights in ISAF operations. Good.
The answer, however, is not to reduce Canadian participation. There is an overall requirement to ensure suitable security in which further development activities can be conducted without substantive disruption. Those NATO nations participating in ISAF, apparently more for the sake of saying they have thousands of troops in Afghanistan than for facilitating continuing development of the country, should be held accountable to provide their fair share of support to riskier security-building operations.
G2G
Looking at this differently, at least Canadians understand that there are a number of NATO nations that are pulling far less than their respective weights in ISAF operations. Good.
The answer, however, is not to reduce Canadian participation. There is an overall requirement to ensure suitable security in which further development activities can be conducted without substantive disruption. Those NATO nations participating in ISAF, apparently more for the sake of saying they have thousands of troops in Afghanistan than for facilitating continuing development of the country, should be held accountable to provide their fair share of support to riskier security-building operations.
G2G
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 410
Shamrock said:
Actually the Angus Reid poll's can be either really random or pretty biased.
When you sign up for their on line poll's you pretty well explain who your are,your interests and how you feel on certain subjects.
If Angus Reid polled only certain people (as my wife gets more invites to answer polls than I do) it can be extremely biased.
Wife is upo to 10 dollars I got 2. :'(
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 210
I tend to not put a lot of faith into any phone polling...way to many opportunities to introduce bias into the results. Even when they claim accuracy to the 95th percentile (that 19 times out of 20 line) I seriously doubt their methods:
Biased towards the wording of the question.
Biased towards current events / topics of significant passion.
Biased towards those that have home phones (and not cells).
Biased towards those that are actually home during the surveying hours (usually standard daytime hours).
Biased towards those that actually answer their phones and do not call screen.
Biased towards those that are willing to participate.
Biased towards those that have the time to answer the survey.
And as mentioned...biased towards the poller, who may hang up on you if you don't give the "right" answer.
Try giving these examples while you're sitting in a room full of students going for Master degrees in health science. Then follow it up by saying, "but if your happy with a sample population of the unemployed, stay at home moms and the elderly...well knock yourself out." ;D
Biased towards the wording of the question.
Biased towards current events / topics of significant passion.
Biased towards those that have home phones (and not cells).
Biased towards those that are actually home during the surveying hours (usually standard daytime hours).
Biased towards those that actually answer their phones and do not call screen.
Biased towards those that are willing to participate.
Biased towards those that have the time to answer the survey.
And as mentioned...biased towards the poller, who may hang up on you if you don't give the "right" answer.
Try giving these examples while you're sitting in a room full of students going for Master degrees in health science. Then follow it up by saying, "but if your happy with a sample population of the unemployed, stay at home moms and the elderly...well knock yourself out." ;D
- Reaction score
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Actually, calling time for other than business polling is around 3:30 to 10:00 central time. You can only be contacted till 9:00 pm in your time zone. That doesn't mean you won't ever be called during the day. If the poll is behind on being finished, CSR's will be assigned it on day shift. I would trust an online poll way less than I do one on the phone, and I don't trust them in the least.
Hawk
Hawk
- Reaction score
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Dirt Digger said:
Excellent points...
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I read in the paper that Toronto had 87 homicides last year (2007) mostly by lawless thugs similar to the Taliban (street gangs). How would Taliban Jack feel about us pulling out of Toronto Danforth?? 
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