Push Polls

A poll is a survey of public opinion. A scientific poll uses random sampling to ensure that everyone in the population has an equal chance of being selected for the survey. This allows for accurate results that can be generalised to the whole population.

A push poll is a type of poll that is used to influence public opinion, rather than measure it. Push polls are often negative and misleading, and are used to spread false information about a candidate or issue.

The average person does not have the time or knowledge to follow all political issues. They usually have a very busy life with work and family. They probably only watch or read the news periodically and form opinions based on that. Even if they had the time, they would not have access to all the information that the politicians and media do. The general public relies heavily on polls to help them form their opinions on political issues.

Polls are often used by the media to manipulate public opinion. The media will report on a poll that favors their candidate or party, while downplaying or ignoring polls that do not. They will also use polls to create a false sense of momentum for or against a candidate or issue. The media will also cherry pick certain polls to give the impression that the public is behind a certain candidate or issue, when in reality the polls may not be representative of the entire population.

Politicians also use polls to manipulate public opinion. They will release polls that show them in a favorable light and use them to attack their opponents. They will also use polls to try to sway undecided voters. Politicians will also spin poll results to make it seem like the public is behind them even if the poll results are not that favorable.

Polls are often used to create a self-fulfilling prophecy. If the media reports that a candidate is ahead in the polls, that can make people more likely to vote for that candidate. If a candidate is behind in the polls, people may be less likely to vote for them. This can create a feedback loop where the polls influence the public and the public influences the polls.

Poll results can also be influenced by who is polled and how the questions are worded. Pollsters can make their results look more favorable to their candidate by choosing to poll people who are more likely to vote for them. They can also make their results look more favorable by wording the questions in a way that makes their candidate look better.

Polls are often used to manipulate public opinion. The media will report on polls that favor their candidate or party, while downplaying or ignoring polls that do not. Politicians will also release polls that show them in a favorable light and use them to attack their opponents. Polls can also be used to create a self-fulfilling prophecy. The public relies heavily on polls to help them form their opinions on political issues, but they should be aware that polls are often used to manipulate public opinion.

A push poll is a political tool used to influence or change the opinion of voters. It's a type of negative campaigning. In a push poll, a telemarketer contacts potential voters and asks them leading questions designed to make the candidate being pushed look bad. The questions are often followed by negative statements about the candidate.

The objective of a push poll is not to gather information about how people intend to vote. It's a way for a campaign to attack an opponent without being directly associated with the negative information.

Push polls are controversial and are often seen as a form of negative campaigning. Some people believe that they are an effective way to change people's minds about a candidate. Others believe that they are a manipulative way to influence people's opinions.

Push polls are a type of political strategy where organizations use media to manipulate public opinion. Push polling is not like traditional polling where questions are posed to a random selection of people and the responses are used to gauge the public’s opinion on a certain topic; rather, push polls are mostly used to sway public opinion in a certain direction. This type of poll is typically used by political campaigns, organizations advocating for or against certain issues, or those with a vested interest in the outcome of a debate.

Push polls pose a series of loaded questions intended to lead respondents to a specific conclusion and they are often conducted over the phone or through email. These polls typically ask leading questions that are framed to elicit a predetermined opinion, such as “Don’t you believe that John Smith is the best candidate for the job?”. A typical push poll also asks rhetorical questions, often in an intimidating or defensive tone, such as “Don’t you think it’s wrong to vote for an incumbent who has presided over an increase in taxes?”. 

The media uses push polls to create an exaggerated perception of public opinion. Politicians, organizations, and organizations will often conduct push polls that target a certain demographic, like senior citizens, in order to make it seem like a popular opinion. The media will then pick up on this supposed “popular opinion” and may alter their reports in order to align with it. This can lead to a skewed representation of public opinion in the media, which can be used to shape public opinion in the direction that the pushing organization desires. 

Often, push polls are conducted without the knowledge of the people receiving the call or email, leading to the poll’s results being reported without context. This lack of context can further distort public perception as it fails to account for the subtle techniques used to influence opinion. 

Push polls have a wide range of implications that can significantly influence public opinion. By offering a biased perspective, they can steer public opinion in a desired direction while diminishing the visibility of counter opinions. As a result, push polls can have long lasting implications that impinge on public discourse and voting outcomes. To counteract manipulation through the use of push polls, public awareness should be raised so that citizens are able to recognize the tactics used by organizations to shape perceived public opinion.

The rise of push polls in the media has become increasingly worrisome among the public, as it is seen as a form of manipulative persuasion. Through this, media outlets and politicians often attempt to leverage public opinion in favor of a specific party or perspective, impacting the decisions of voters. This paper will explore this increasingly concerning aspect of modern media, looking at its potential impacts and analyzing the ethical considerations such polls often raise.

Push polls are a tool used by media outlets that alter the predictability of polls through the use of strategically designed questions. Through these questions, the respondents are often led to a desired outcome, creating an artificial impression and artificially amplifying the effects of select polling responses. The consequence is that the public can be encouraged to support a chosen agenda, and any voice of opposition is minimized (Mundorf and Robicheaux 2005).

What pushes the ethical considerations that come with push polls even more is the tendency for these strategic questions to be published, often creating an artificial narrative alongside a false sense of public opinion. While it is understandable that media organizations seek to advance their own narrative, the manipulative techniques associated with push polls often create an environment that fails to represent the full complexity of public opinion (Popkin et al. 1999).

In this regard, the use of push polls may be seen as deceptive. Such polls fail to accurately reflect the thoughts of the public and can lead to incorrect conclusions being drawn. Such tactics also leave those polled unaware of how their personal opinion sway the resulting data, further minimizing their ability to evaluate the accuracy of such polls.

Further complicating matters is the fact that push polls are not subject to current federal regulations regarding polls” (“Consumer Information Federal Polls” 2020). This leaves many media outlets open to operate without regulation and without being held to the greater ethical standard.

In the end, it is clear that the use of push polls has created a concerning trend in modern media. These polls have the potential to severely manipulate public opinion in order to craft an artificial narrative. As this technique is difficult to detect, the ethical considerations behind such tools have become an important conversation to have in order to ensure that the public is not subject to unethical manipulation.

Bibliography

Consumer Information Federal Polls. 2020. “Polling and Surveys.” Federal Trade Commission. https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0109-polling-and-surveys.

Mundorf, Norbert and Rodney Robicheaux. 2005. “Effects of Push Polls on Voting Decisions.” SAGE Journals 56 (4): 568–585. doi:10.1525/cmr.2005.19.4.568.

Popkin, Samuel L., Sigal G. Barsade, Glenn Romero and Susan Welch. 1999. “An Experimental Study of Push Polling.” SAGE

What is clear is that push polls are a tool that is used by campaigns to try to sway people's opinions. Whether or not they are effective is up for debate.