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Recently, NewsMax took an opinion poll [1], which my very dear friend of close to 40 years answered. After she received the results, she shared them with me. Personally, it seems to me that the poll results may have amazed her, as they did me, especially in view of ‘pop political culture’ iconography, the mainstream media and political spin.
Wondering what my readers would think of that survey’s questions, and how you would answer, I thought that I’d run them by you. So here goes.
On the question asked about President Obama’s job performance, 78% (2,986,381) disapproved while only 21% (829,081) approved. How would you vote?
Regarding President Obama’s handling of the U.S. economy, 78% (2,974,124) disapproved while 21% (826,054) approved. How would you answer that?
ObamaCare, President Obama’s ‘signature healthcare reform program’, was questioned as to helping, hindering, or making no difference to the person being polled. 65% (2,263,360) said it hurt them. 21% (755,592) said it made no difference, while only 13% (454,218) said it helped them!
On a very personal question asked, “Do you trust President Obama,” an amazing 79% (2,755,923) said no, whereas only 20% (708,649) said yes.
How well did President Obama do on handling foreign policy and the war on terror, solicited 65% (224,712) disapproval and a 34% (116,378) approval.
Respondents were asked if they were members of the U.S. Armed Forces. 66% (226,007) said no, while 33% (111,328) answered, yes!
Now here’s the rather remarkable aspect of that survey: It asked about one’s financial status, e.g., stock portfolio, bonds and/or gold, and if the respondent had one totaling $200,000 or more. Not surprisingly, 77% (257,178) said no, whereas 22% (75,939) said yes.
But something is totally out of whack in this poll’s findings, as far as I’m concerned, and I’m neither a pollster nor a statistician. The figures don’t jive! Why? Apparently, the polling base was not consistent, meaning not all questions were asked all respondents, OR recipients ‘cherry picked’ which questions to answer, thus skewing the base results, in my opinion. The figures don’t match. That or two separate polls were taken using different bases with the results combined, which is not statistically ‘kosher’, I’d say.
Let’s crunch the numbers.
On President Obama’s job performance, between the disapproved and the approved, the total number of respondents was 3,815,462.
On his handling of the U.S. economy, between the disapproved and the approved, the total number of respondents was 3,800,178.
Regarding ObamaCare, the total of three options equaled 3,473,170.
As far as trusting President Obama, the total answer between yes and no was 3,464,572.
Regarding handling foreign policy and the war on terror, the numbers totaled 341,090.
The total number of respondents answering if they were members of the Armed Forces equaled 337,335.
And the last question, about financial status, garnered a total of only 333,117.
If my calculator’s figures are correct, the various totals indicate that the polling results apparently cannot be taken seriously, since one does not know how the figures were massaged around to get the results. Every question’s answer should be within 1 to 2 percentage points of the total number for the poll population base which, at its highest figure was 3,815,462, compared with the lowest figure 333,117. That spread is not a one-to-two-percent differential! But, then as I said, I’m no statistician.
I point out that apparent discrepancy so readers can become more discerning evaluating the upcoming dime-a-dozen “polling season” in the 2016 presidential race. All may not be what it appears to be, and please don’t be fooled into thinking or believing supposed ‘statistical differences’. That’s the job high-paid press people are paid to do: create favorable or unfavorable political spin?
Reference:
[1] http://www.newsmax.com/m/Surveys/Results/id/97/
Catherine J Frompovich (website) is a retired natural nutritionist who earned advanced degrees in Nutrition and Holistic Health Sciences, Certification in Orthomolecular Theory and Practice plus Paralegal Studies. Her work has been published in national and airline magazines since the early 1980s. Catherine authored numerous books on health issues along with co-authoring papers and monographs with physicians, nurses, and holistic healthcare professionals. She has been a consumer healthcare researcher 35 years and counting.
Catherine’s latest book, published October 4, 2013, is Vaccination Voodoo, What YOU Don’t Know About Vaccines, available on Amazon.com.
Her 2012 book A Cancer Answer, Holistic BREAST Cancer Management, A Guide to Effective & Non-Toxic Treatments, is available on Amazon.com and as a Kindle eBook.
Two of Catherine’s more recent books on Amazon.com are Our Chemical Lives And The Hijacking Of Our DNA, A Probe Into What’s Probably Making Us Sick (2009) and Lord, How Can I Make It Through Grieving My Loss, An Inspirational Guide Through the Grieving Process (2008)