mackie@watdcsu.UUCP (D. Mulholland ) (10/05/84)
<"...I ate it up, and spit it out...">
Mark:
Concerning your recent statement in the capital punishment debate:
>It has been shown that polls have little effect on public opinion. They
>merely happen to report on what that opinion is at the time.
This is news to me. I had understood that studies of this subject
usually report no evidence that reporting poll results influences
the outcome of a subsequent vote. The American networks regularly use
these results to quash criticism of their exit polling and election
coverage. There is a big difference between "no evidence..." and "little
effect...". Can you find me the study/studies that you refer to? Perhaps
this is true for the issues of capital punishment and abortion, but I
don't believe it for a second on most political questions. Remember
the Joe Clark effect? Furthermore, I think this has rather far reaching
implications to topics such as the pornography/censorship debate.
Doug
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