Online Voting, Continued
A little while ago I created a project asking for recommendations on websites that allow users to vote on current issues (http://www.ideaoffer.com/projects/johnjwalters/online-voting.html). I received several good pieces of advice and several good recommendations, but the most compelling answer was this one from kwistred:
the problem with all these voting sites is bias. People of different political persuasions go to various sites so the outcome of these votes are necessarily going to be biased and unscientific. also the questions asked are going to be skewed too.Recently ppl figured out the problem with questions like: are you happy with Obama's healthcare reform.There were the Republicans who didn't want the reform to succeed for their various reasons, and the people who were annoyed the reform didn't go far enough in providing affordable healthcare.The important thing to remember is to be skeptical about the results on these voting sites. They are not scientific.
This got me thinking: let's pretend it was your job to create a website where users could vote and give their opinion on the current issues -- how would you do it? What features would you like to see on it? How would you source your news? What details jump to mind?
1)(somehow) stressing that you are genuinely interested in their honest opinion and that you are unbiased and not affiliated with any particular political party or opinion.
2) Honestly tell them how the answers / information they provide will be used, and ideally how their providing this information is helpful to them!
3) Allowing them to answer Anonymously, e.g. without having to Register, provide a name, an email address or any personal information, etc.
4) Collect (general) demographic information, e.g. age category, sex, political affiliation, if any, are they a registered voter, etc. ... All of which will help make your results more scientific, right?!
5) Make sure that each question and your series of questions do not show any clear bias, e.g. don't include a question about ObamaCare in the same "survey" with a question if you think Obama should be impeached, or anything like that, you know?
I hope this all helps and Have a Great Day! :)
- Michael S. DeVries
Founder and Principal,
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