I've just received this very disturbing email -
"Was just phoned by Ipsos Mori asking for the views of 16 to 34 year olds ahead of the referendum. At the end of the interview, I asked when the poll was going to be published, and was told that the poll's findings would be published before the debate between Alex Salmond and Alistair Darling, with some of the findings used as questions. Off the top of my head I was asked which way I intend to vote, how likely I am to vote, which currency Scotland would use, how much of a risk independence would be, how would independence affect public spending, healthcare etc, how likely it is that more powers will be given, how more powers would affect my voting position and how much better off I will be due to independence. That isn't an all inclusive list nor are the questions all worded correctly- however I do find it strange that the majority of the questions were those that could be spun against Alex Salmond as opposed to Alistair Darling. I'm not sure if this poll's use in the debate is yet common knowledge - maybe I'm slow."
I'm hoping against hope that this is just a misunderstanding. As I recall, the BBC have a policy that explicitly forbids the commissioning of voting intention polls. If they've lost their marbles and ignored that policy, it would obviously severely call into question the corporation's neutrality if they had also selected one of the most No-friendly firms to conduct the poll. At least STV had the (thin) excuse that they'd used Ipsos-Mori before.
The paradox of Scot goes Pop:
ReplyDelete"If the polls are discredited in James Kelly's eyes why waste his time analysing them?"
Pointless exercise if you ask me but jolly good reading for us cynical trolls.
Interesting use of the word "if" there. Nice try.
ReplyDeleteWhat is happening on the ground.
ReplyDeleteIs anonymous some sort of attack bot, fact free and as stupid as someone who failed the Turing Test?
ReplyDeleteHe certainly appears to be a robot, so, I guess, a fail?
The phrase "published before the debate" seems innocuous enough, if they mean a day or two before. However, the phrase "some of the findings used as questions" is suspicious to say the least.
ReplyDeleteThe only excuse the BBC could have in doing this is if they have permission from both the First Minister and Darling. However, the BBC would still be open to the charge of breaking their own rules.
If the BBC doesn't have permission and are deliberately going against policy then they deserve to be condemned in public - but I won't hold my breath on that happening.
If you want an invitation to appear at this debate, the best thing to do might be to pretend to be a rabid No voter.
ReplyDeleteI said as much on twitter when many Yessers felt excluded. I consider too many NO questioners seem to appear in Debates seen.
DeleteFrom what I heard the BBC are using Comres to pick their audience.
ReplyDelete"From what I heard the BBC are using Comres to pick their audience."
ReplyDeleteWell, at least we don't have a clear idea whether ComRes are No-friendly or Yes-friendly, so that would be perceived as a neutral choice.
As I recall, the BBC have a policy that explicitly forbids the commissioning of voting intention polls.
ReplyDeleteThey tend not to ask Party voting intention, but they do commission polls on matters of public opinion. How you would vote in a referendum would come under that and the email doesn't mention any Party VI questions. Though they might ask 2011 voting for weighting purposes, MORI don't seem to do this. They don't use past vote weighting in their GB-wide polls either - they seem to be too worried about false recall.
Whether they should do such a thing is another matter. Polling tends to require careful analysis, which political correspondents aren't always good at. Misinterpretation of the results, later refuted, could cause problems for the BBC. More seriously there is a danger that the debate gets sidetracked into polling quibbling - great for the likes of us, but boring and incomprehensible for most people and perhaps avoiding topics that they do want to hear about.
It's difficult to criticise the BBC for using Ipsos-MORI though, because as far as I am aware they are the only people doing regular telephone polling for Scotland.
" Anonymous said...The paradox of Scot goes Pop: "If the polls are discredited in James Kelly's eyes why waste his time analysing them?"
ReplyDeleteReading ability appears to be something you're lacking in too since the discrediting of the polls piece was written by a Guest, Scott Hamilton.