# Is Public Policy Polling accurate? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 30, 2017, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-public-policy-polling-accurate/795132 "2017-08-30T21:48:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-public-policy-polling-accurate/795132/1 "2017-08-30T21:48:59Z")
Just got this from Snopes: > [@](#): > > an August 2013 survey conducted by the Democrat-oriented Public Policy Polling showed that 29 percent of Louisiana Republicans believed that Obama was to blame for the oft-critized federal response to Katrina. Another 44 percent were reportedly unsure whether Obama or George W. Bush was at fault, while 28 percent blamed Bush. > > [link](http://www.snopes.com/barack-obama-katrina/) That’s goddamn terrifying. In your experience, is Public Policy Polling an accurate source for polling data? ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-public-policy-polling-accurate/795132/2 "2017-08-30T21:55:52Z")
Fivethirtyeight gives them a B+ rating overall, but notes that the offbeat polling questions they occasionally indulge in (such as the Barack Obama vs. Jefferson Davis one being discussed in a current Pit thread) probably don’t reveal anything useful. ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-public-policy-polling-accurate/795132/3 "2017-08-31T01:50:03Z")
Thanks. I was hoping that they were a crap outfit and my faith in human intelligence could be restored. Ah well. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2017, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-public-policy-polling-accurate/795132/4 "2017-09-01T16:53:11Z")
You can find similar data about Democrats/Democratic-leaning voters from other sources. You can assume in all such cases that some percentage are fucking with the pollster or don’t care, and that a small but substantial percentage are just really ignorant. [24% of Americans get all their news from friends and family](http://www.journalism.org/2016/07/07/pathways-to-news/). ---
**Author:** ![igor\_frankensteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/839c29/32.png) [@igor\_frankensteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/igor_frankensteen)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-public-policy-polling-accurate/795132/5 "2017-09-02T02:23:10Z")
I think the tough thing to measure, but which is extremely impactful in this, is that we have more organized efforts to propagandize people now, than ever before. And whenever it becomes the prevailing attitude, that it is more important for your side to WIN, than it is to deal with reality, the worse the propaganda gets. Hence during times of war, and perceived times of war, there is a higher tolerance for accepting and even welcoming that your own chosen leaders are lying TO YOU. This is one of the many reasons why lots of people in power DO want there to be a constant perception of war or war-like danger. Evil plots of magic foes is another game that’s played for this reason. ``` When I was growing up in the 60's and 70's, it was just becoming a fad for lots of people to declare that they NEVER believed either government spokespeople, OR news talking heads. Since there was no internet, and most people then as well, didn't frequent libraries or book stores to acquaint themselves with factual information, the only thing left to drive opinions, was radio and television ENTERTAINMENT programs. The fake American History as told though movie westerns and biblical dramas, had an inordinate effect on what people thought the word was about. Everyone knew that whatever the Communists say, the opposite is always true. ``` Back then, it was mostly the left wingers who were most virulently certain that all commercially produced news was BS, and that all government speeches were lies; now it’s the right wingers who are sure that only the Rush Limbaughs of the world ever give them the straight poop. When the bulk of the population restricts THEMSELVES to only sources of information which they themselves know is pre-biased towards their predilections, the chance that any poll will find that they actually know the truth about anything at all, shrinks infinitely.