I am not going to get political here, but I hope this entry educates people on how “not” to ask questions.  This survey is an example of how questions can lead or push people into a direction you want them to take.  It frustrates me when I hear on the news about polls and surveys and don’t hear how the question was asked or who was asked.  When you see the results of this newest survey out of Washington I hope you discount the results.  This weekend I recieved in the mail a very offiicial document from Washington wanting my opinion.  In big letters it said “Obama Survey”.  Here is the list of questions that were asked and all were “Yes/No” answers.

1. Do you agree with Barack Obama and the Democrats that taxes should be raised for the sake of “fairness” regardless of the negative impact it is likely to have on the economy?

2. Do you believe that the best way to increase the quality and effectiveness of public education in the U.S. is to rapidly expand federal funding while eliminating performance standards and accountability?

3. Do you support the creation of a national health insurance plan that would be administered by bureacrats in Washington, D.C.?

4)  Do you believe that the quality and availability of health care will increase if the federal government dictates pricing to doctors and hospitals?

5) Are you confident that new medicines and medical treatments will continue to be developed if the federal government controls prescription drug prices and sets profit margins for research and pharmaceutical companies?

6)  Are you in favor of reinstituting the military draft, as Democrats in Congress have proposed?

Wow!  I wouldn’t expect more than 1% to pick “Yes” to any of these questions if they read the entire question.  I wonder who is managing this “objective” study?  I wonder what the statitical signficance will be when they publish it?  In research it is easy to get the answers you want “to hear” if you just ask the questions in the proper way.   OK, I am a little sarcastic here, but beware of published results without seeing the actual question and who the questions were asked to.  I am considered a conservative so my guess is that they felt they would get the data they wanted.  Sorry, but this datapoint will not be included in this study.   The survey is now carefully being placed in the round file.