Agree, strongly agree, disagree, strongly disagree?
Oct 10th, 2007 by handolio
I’m intrigued by this story in the Guardian. The headline, YouGov claims influence over Brown’s election retreat, sounds distinctly sinister to me. Isn’t the purpose of a polling organisation to find out what people think?
A quote from the company head also sits uneasily:
YouGov chief executive Nadhim Zahawi explained that in the past polling firms tested voters’ preferences at the end of conference season but these days polls are carried out throughout the parties’ autumnal jamborees.
“There is now a continuous flow of information, like water, rather than the occasional sip of an expensive single malt,” he explained
Does he mean to imply that regular polls devalue the opinions they gauge?
I’m reminded of the observer effect, learned in my murky physics past. It’s the problem that arises in science whereby it’s impossible to observe the behaviour of a system without, however marginally, having an influence on the system’s behaviour. Almost without exception, the influence is unwelcome.
It seems that YouGov is actively celebrating influencing events that, by rights, it should simply be observing. And surely that’s the role of a journalist?
