04 Apr Gaming Online Polls: How Hard Could It Be?
It is election season once again, and with it comes a slew of opinion polls showing this politician or that politician-to-be, as the nation’s favorite candidate (for the time being). These polls are conducted regularly, over a relatively long period of time, in order to reflect the vicissitudes of electoral whims. Now, since more than half of Filipinos are online, a number of these polls have been conducted through websites. The move is understandable as the benefits are obvious: using the net to reach out to participants is far more convenient and time-efficient than going to them personally, or conducting interviews through the phone. The costs are also diminished, since forms don’t even have to be printed.
But how accurate are online polls, really?
A poll’s accuracy and confidence rating depends largely on how sampling was conducted. This in turn hinges on two questions: First, is the sample large enough? Second, is it representative enough?
No doubt an online poll could potentially reach out to a very broad population. Its extent goes hand in hand with the speed by which Internet connectivity expands. To date more than half of Filipinos are active online, spanning all age groups and socio-economic classes. Everyone could theoretically hand in his or her questionnaire, and the sample could approximate the Filipino population closer than has ever been achieved before.
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