>>I did go to their web site and cast my vote in favor of legalizing gay
marriages, and was diverted to the table showing the results of their
poll - 98.7% voting AGAINST legalization. I understand that the sample
may suffer from self-selection bias - so the more realistic number is
closer to 70-80% against.<<
I am always reminded of a happy evening spent watching Ulster TV on a night when a boxer from Northern Ireland called Ray Close had just got seven bells knocked out of him and lost on points. UTV had organised a phone-in poll on whether the referee's decision was fair or not, which went something like 98% unfair, 2% fair. The commentator's reaction stays with me to this day:
"Even allowing for a bit of bias, that's got to be a victory for the local boy".
Never assume that you can make allowances for the bias of a self-selected poll.
Self-selected polls are *worthless*.
dd
=====
________________________________________________________________________ BT Yahoo! Broadband - Save £80 when you order online today. Hurry! Offer ends 21st December 2003. The way the internet was meant to be. http://uk.rd.yahoo.com/evt=21064/*http://btyahoo.yahoo.co.uk