ABC News Verify looks at misleading claims from dodgy polls

ABC NEWS (Australia)

A new investigation from ABC News Verify is examining how Australians are being targeted with misleading claims linked to bias or poorly constructed polls and surveys.

Transcript

00:00So what we did is we dug into the origins of some of the polls, sorry, some of the claims

00:07that are linked from polls and surveys that have been making the rounds this election.

00:12And let me just speak to a couple of examples.

00:13So for instance, we looked into a claim that Trumpet of Patriots has put out there in ads

00:18and press releases.

00:19They claimed that a majority of Australians would support a party with Trump-like policies.

00:24And what's interesting about that claim is when you look at the press release that it

00:27accompanied, there was something missing, what was missing were the respondents who

00:30said no, they wouldn't support a party with Trump-like policies.

00:34And when you look into the polling itself, which is of that press release, you find that

00:39most respondents actually said no, they would not support a party with those policies.

00:42So it's just a small example of how a claim that a party is pushing out there isn't backed

00:47up by its own polling.

00:49Some other examples we looked at is, for instance, the use of so-called push polls.

00:54A push poll is essentially a poll that's not really aimed to collect any meaningful information

00:58about you, the voter, or your demographics and attitudes.

01:01It's really serving just to push a particular message out there about a candidate or policy.

01:06And we've seen reports of apparent push polls targeting voters and some key marginal electorates

01:12coming through from robocalls or SMS surveys.

01:15All right.

01:16So what sort of questions should people ask themselves then about polls and surveys this election?

01:21So I always remain sceptical.

01:23That's my number one bit of advice.

01:25But some things you can look at specifically is, how was the poll conducted?

01:29Is it a reasonable sample size?

01:30And what were the methodologies?

01:32So for instance, if it's not in poll and it's a small sample size, that could raise some

01:36red flags.

01:38Other instances, as I mentioned before about Trumpet of Patriots, if there's certain results

01:41that are missing from a company claims about what the poll shows.

01:46So you should always try to check the source if you can.

01:49And of course, as I mentioned, you know, there are some surveys out there that are really

01:53aimed at trying to steer you in a particular way.

01:56So have a listen out for things like leading questions, how candidates or policies are described.

02:03Those are signs, for instance, if you find that one candidate or policy is described really

02:07favourably and others are basically just skirted over, that it may actually be a push poll.

02:11So those are the things to do if you see a claim that you're unsure about during the

02:18election.

02:19Yeah.

02:20And if there are any claims that you're unsure about, please contact ABC News Verify.

02:23We would love to take a look and we'll be able to check it out for you.

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