INTERNET OR ONLINE SURVEYS have become a popular and attractive way to measure opinions and attitudes of the general population and more specific groups within the general population. Although onlinesurveys may seem to be more economical and easier to administer than traditional survey research methods, they pose several problems to obtaining scientifically valid and accurate results. A peer-reviewed article by Responsive Management staff published in the January-February 2010 issue of Human Dimensions of Wildlife details the specific issues surrounding the use of online surveys in human dimensions research. Reprints of the article can be ordered here. Responsive Management would like to thank Jerry Vaske of Colorado State University for his assistance with the Human Dimensions article and for granting us permission to distribute this popularized version of the article. Mark Damian Duda
Executive Director
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The above is from
http://www.responsivemanagement.com/news_from/2010-05-04.htm
and note this:
Self-Selected Listener Opinion Poll (SLOP)
Paul J. Lavrakas
A self-selected listener opinion poll, also called SLOP, is an unscientific poll that is conducted by broadcast media (television stations and radio stations) to engage their audiences by providing them an opportunity to register their opinion about some topic that the station believes has current news …
Click here to see full text : http://srmo.sagepub.com/view/encyclopedia-of-survey-research-methods/n524.xml
He could always create another poll, asking if his last poll was appropriate. Don’t worry about if the options seem biased or weirdly phrased, that poll will be anonymous.
Sorry that the fonts in my post are so screwy. Still, before replying to an online survey, think about how it will be used. And note that the results are not going to provide any credible information about the larger population. The sidebar here explains: http://www.responsivemanagement.com/news_from/2010-05-04.htm
Just to hammer home the point, in one recent especially sloppy philosophical SLOP, the word is that it was possible to vote early and often. That’s right, from the reports I’ve heard, people could vote their way multiple times. The bigots, according to the poll results, albeit faulty, won. So the poll’s author congratulates himself for having done a fine job.
For an example of a sloppy philosophical SLOP, see this: http://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2014/02/last-weeks-discussion-of-the-site-visit-committee-report-a-poll.html