Talk about irony. A new poll says 3/4 of Americans think polls are biased.
The survey finds just 19% believe the information they see in polls are accurate.Â
However, those numbers fluctuate as Americans have more trust in polls that come from academic or non-partisan sources.
The poll is described as a “benchmark survey” that “[aims] to start mapping the path to public opinion.” Respondents indicated that they have more trust in surveys conducted by nonpartisan groups, such as foundations or academic groups than those conducted for political clients or by the news media. Sixty-four percent have at least “some trust” in polls conducted by “academic centers,” and 54 percent trust surveys from “nonpartisan foundations.” But only 46 percent have a modicum of trust in polls from polling companies, and even fewer, 43 percent, trust those surveys from news media organization.
That’s still more trust than Americans put in survey results from poll aggregators who average or otherwise meld polling data (30 percent), political parties or candidates (27 percent) and automated voice-recording firms (16 percent).
Respondents were split fairly evenly on the question of whether journalists and editors “use a common set of standards to evaluate the quality of polls to determine which polls they will report and which ones they will not” – 51 percent said yes, and 41 percent said no.
