Guess Again

 

Having worked on the formulation of political polls, I know that coming up with questions that will pin down the information I’m looking for is a challenge. You can’t ask outright "Are you truly informed and how many people will you represent at the polls?" because those who aren’t will say they are, and probably come up with a number they think you should believe in answer to the latter question. And it will likely be false.

Polling has gotten out of hand, with too many people doing it, asking questions that invite prevarication, inducing some people to deliberately undermine the purpose of the survey, and ultimately coming up with "results" that are at best questionable.

I just got off the phone with a pleasant-enough woman, the third person to call for a health survey. Worn down, and because the woman didn’t sound stupid -- maybe she was a single mother who’d just lost her job -- I relented, and regretted it.

The survey was for a medical researcher in Southern California; I think she said the name of a medical school or hospital. She offered a toll-free number and a name I might call with questions, but it came at the beginning of the survey and not wanting to prolong the process I skipped it.

The questions were typical, about general health, insurance, income, work hours, enough money to eat, et cetera, and there were a bunch of questions about race. First, was I Latino or Hispanic? No, but I didn’t know there was a difference. Then was I Pacific Islander, Hawaiian and some other races, six in all, or maybe white? White, I confessed.

Had I ever thought I might have gotten better medical treatment if I was another race or ethnic group? Hmm, um, no.

Did I live with my wife? Yes. Would I describe myself as heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual or lesbian? Lesbian, I answered. A pause. No, I’m joking. Oh, she said, and corrected the entry.

She also asked if there were any playgrounds within a quarter-mile, and I said we live out in the country. Children have a great time out here playing with Miz Nature.

Are you or your neighbors afraid to go out at night? Well yeah, I said, we got mountain lions and bears and coyotes. But I knew she meant a normal neighborhood, with sidewalks and houses and local preverts. She didn’t have a choice: she had to mark that we were afraid. I didn’t add, but armed.

Depending on how many people they surveyed, I might have represented millions of people. I hope they don’t make any significant decisions based on the information that I gave them.

And that’s SetonnoteS...I’m Tony Seton.

 

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