Depends on how many people were polled. If a very small number of people were polled, it is almost pointless. Polls on a very large scale involving tens of millions of people or more, gives a more accurate percentage of what the country believes.
On Thursday 11/24/16 - 1:02:26 AM psyndrone wrote: Depends on how many people were polled. If a very small number of people were polled, it is almost pointless. Polls on a very large scale involving tens of millions of people or more, gives a more accurate percentage of what the country believes.
have you ever seen a poll involving that many people?
(Irony aside) I'd probably look up the methodological details myself rather than just going by the headline, but I'd lean more towards there being an element of truth to it than not.
First, majority of people saying that they don't believe the media doesn't have any bearing on whether they tell the truth or not.
Second, if a source was to be biased or untruthful, I would generally expect them to do it in a way that makes them look good rather than bad.
Third, while critical evaluation involves being mindful of where information comes from, I think it's difficult to justify disregarding things outright on the basis of it's source most of the time. It's easy to reject things simply for ideological reasons on that basis, rather than on the basis of the evidence itself. I don't assume that everything a major news outlet says is 100% truthful, but I don't assume it's 100% untruthful either. I expect statistics to be spun more than outright made up, and the more direct and specific statements are, the harder it is to get away with it without being caught out.
On Thursday 11/24/16 - 1:02:26 AM psyndrone wrote: Depends on how many people were polled. If a very small number of people were polled, it is almost pointless. Polls on a very large scale involving tens of millions of people or more, gives a more accurate percentage of what the country believes.
On Friday 11/25/16 - 7:42:10 AM Disappears wrote: have you ever seen a poll involving that many people?
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