# Would You or Do You Lie to Pollsters? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 30, 2006, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-or-do-you-lie-to-pollsters/370837 "2006-08-30T21:46:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2006, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-or-do-you-lie-to-pollsters/370837/1 "2006-08-30T21:46:36Z")
I’m going to assume you will tell the truth HERE. How safe an assumption is that, given an anonymous poll? I can think of a lot of reasons why someone might lie to a pollster. Matbe you really love a TV show that you don’t actually get to watch as often as you would like. Or you watch one of those trainwreck shows but don’t want to admit it, or you’ve done something you’re ashamed of, etc. MAYBE you just want to sow chaos or fuck with your countrymens’ heads. What about you? Having absolute confidence that any given response could not be traced back to you as in individual, are there circumstances where you would lie? ---
**Author:** ![Autumn\_Almanac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d26b3c/32.png) [@Autumn\_Almanac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autumn_Almanac)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2006, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-or-do-you-lie-to-pollsters/370837/2 "2006-08-30T21:47:37Z")
[QUOTE=Boyo Jim] Having absolute confidence that any given response could not be traced back to you as in individual, are there circumstances where you would lie? [/QUOTE] If it was funny. ---
**Author:** ![monica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@monica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monica)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2006, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-or-do-you-lie-to-pollsters/370837/3 "2006-08-30T22:24:09Z")
All of the polling that I’ve done has been political polling, where we have a damn good bit of information on who we’re talking to. We know their names, where they live, marital status, age, and likelyhood of being Democrat or Republican (this is based off of what magazines they order and what organizations they belong to, among other things.) In short: We know who you are. I understand that many other polling organizations don’t have this kind of information on me. They may not know who I am. However, unless the surveyor was really obnoxious, out of respect for the polling that I do, I generally won’t lie. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2006, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-or-do-you-lie-to-pollsters/370837/4 "2006-08-30T22:57:51Z")
**AA** hit it. If I get a chuckle out of it, I’ll tell a pollster just about anything. ---
**Author:** ![jimmmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@jimmmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimmmy)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-or-do-you-lie-to-pollsters/370837/5 "2006-08-31T00:30:19Z")
I have : about my income. If I am taking the time to answer the poll, generally I am going to tell the truth though. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2006, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-or-do-you-lie-to-pollsters/370837/6 "2006-09-01T15:06:27Z")
Some are real polls, some aren’t. Real polls, I answer truthfully unless there’s something too personal being asked. Then it’s a “no thanks”. Phony polls I don’t do at all. To cut some of them short I’ll say “I don’t ever use long distance.” Or “my religion forbids the use of cell phones.” The “pointy haired boss” polls getting access to news sites I mess up completely. My zip code is 12345, etc. Jeez, years ago there was the infamous remark someone made that “half of all visitors to our web site are CEOs of their own corporation making at least a million dollars a year.” You’re getting data but you’re not getting info. The two are not the same. I am “enrolled” with an online polling company which occassionally pays for the info. Always honest. I’ve made several hundred dollars. Not exactly a great ratio of benefit vs. time, but interesting. It’s weird to see a commercial I completely trashed in a poll later turning up on TV. You mean there were others in the poll who liked _that_? ---
**Author:** ![Waverly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/57b2e6/32.png) [@Waverly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waverly)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2006, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-or-do-you-lie-to-pollsters/370837/7 "2006-09-01T15:23:08Z")
I always tell them the bitter truth: That their call is unwelcome and that I hope they get caught in a hail of red-hot lava and live scorpions. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2006, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-or-do-you-lie-to-pollsters/370837/8 "2006-09-01T15:48:38Z")
I don’t respond to polls. My time is too important, even if I’m just watching a “Buffy” rerun. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2006, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-or-do-you-lie-to-pollsters/370837/9 "2006-09-01T15:52:10Z")
[QUOTE=Autumn Almanac] If it was funny. [/QUOTE] Problem is, the funny stuff usually occurs to me later. I said “no thanks” to a marketing pollster who called wanting to know about “snack and soft drink shopping habits.” After I cut him off and hung up, it occurred to me that I could have had a blast offering opinions like: “My favorite beverage is Dr. Skipper. Mountain Dew is devil cum. I wouldn’t wash my dog’s asshole with it.” ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2006, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-or-do-you-lie-to-pollsters/370837/10 "2006-09-01T17:01:11Z")
Someone called to ask my views on the upcoming election. I hung up before admitting that I didn’t know what election she was talking about. So clearly I wouldn’t be able to bluff my way through something like that. ---
**Author:** ![gabriela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@gabriela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gabriela)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-or-do-you-lie-to-pollsters/370837/11 "2006-09-02T01:46:38Z")
[QUOTE=Waverly] I always tell them the bitter truth: That their call is unwelcome and that I hope they get caught in a hail of red-hot lava and live scorpions. [/QUOTE] snork OK, that was funny. Dammit. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-or-do-you-lie-to-pollsters/370837/12 "2006-09-02T12:39:09Z")
I’m honest with REAL polls, when I bother to answer them at all. I’m regularly asked questions by the Harris Poll. I never lie to them, but about 5% of the time, I just won’t answer. My main problem is that a lot of my opinions are too nuanced! My exact thoughts and feelings on any given issue aren’t likely to fit neatly in one of the handful of responses I have to choose from. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-or-do-you-lie-to-pollsters/370837/13 "2006-09-02T13:52:45Z")
> **[I'll tell Nielsen I watch your favorite shows if you tell me when they are](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=375991)** > > We got rid of our cable almost a year ago. We realized we got all our news from NPR and the internet, and, since getting Netflix, almost all available tube time is spent watching movies. But when the Nielsen people came calling I said Sure! I’ll...