Category Archives: Washington DC

Fairleigh Dickinson University Public Mind poll flawed, Bias uninformed sloppy methodologies?, Obama hiding records not just a theory, Unemployment rate question worded poorly

“Fairleigh Dickinson University (“University”) occupies a position of prominence, trust and responsibility within the state, the nation and the world. The University’s reputation, welfare, and ability to advance its mission rests upon the commitment of every member of the community to act with the highest level of integrity at all times while performing their official duties. Conduct which falls below this standard is inimical to the University and may result in a loss of confidence in the University and its mission by constituencies, stakeholders and publics.”…Fairleigh Dickinson University code of conduct and ethics

“Why has Obama, since taking the White House, used Justice Department Attorneys, at taxpayer expense,  to avoid presenting a legitimate birth certificate and college records?”…Citizen Wells

“And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed
–if all records told the same tale–then the lie passed into
history and became truth. “Who controls the past,” ran the
Party slogan, “controls the future: who controls the present
controls the past.”…George Orwell, “1984″

Fairleigh Dickinson University’s Public Mind recently released poll results that were reported by Politico. Politico’s biased reporting was addressed at Citizen Wells yesterday.

The Public Mind poll result reporting and some of the methodologies will be addressed below.

Fairleigh Dickinson University

CODE OF CONDUCT AND ETHICS

“Fairleigh Dickinson University (“University”) occupies a position of prominence, trust and responsibility within the state, the nation and the world. The University’s reputation, welfare, and ability to advance its mission rests upon the commitment of every member of the community to act with the highest level of integrity at all times while performing their official duties. Conduct which falls below this standard is inimical to the University and may result in a loss of confidence in the University and its mission by constituencies, stakeholders and publics.

This Code of Conduct sets forth standards which Members of Fairleigh Dickinson University, as defined in Article II, are required to observe when representing the University or otherwise performing their official duties.”

“This Code of Conduct is applicable to members of the board of trustees, faculty members, staff members, fellows, researchers, graduate assistants, teaching assistants and student employees (“Member of the University” or “Member”).”

Click to access codeofconductpdfversion.pdf

Let’s see how the University’s code of ethics meshes with the polling and poll reporting.

From the poll January 17, 2013.

“CONSPIRACY THEORIES PROSPER”

“Sixty-three percent of registered voters in the U.S. buy into at least one political conspiracy theory, according to results from a recent Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind Poll. The nationwide survey of registered voters asked Americans to evaluate four different political conspiracy theories: 56 percent of Democrats and 75 percent of Republicans say that at
least one is likely true. This includes 36 percent who think that President Obama is hiding information about his background and early life, 25 percent who think that the government knew about 9/11 in advance, and 19 percent who think the 2012 Presidential election was stolen. Generally, the more people know about current events, the less likely they are to believe in conspiracy theories – but not among Republicans, where more knowledge leads to greater belief
in political conspiracies.

The most popular of these conspiracy theories is the belief that President Obama is hiding important information about his background and early life, which would include what’s often referred to “birtherism.” Thirty-six percent of Americans think this is probably true, including 64 percent of Republicans and 14 percent of Democrats.

“This conspiracy theory is much more widely believed mostly because it’s been
discussed so often,” said Dan Cassino, a professor of political science at Fairleigh Dickinson University and an analyst for the poll. “People tend to believe that where there’s smoke, there’s fire – so the more smoke they see, the more likely they are to believe that something is going on.””

“In general, higher levels of actual knowledge about politics tends to reduce belief in conspiracy theories. In the poll, respondents were asked a series of four questions about current events, and respondents who were able to answer more questions correctly were less likely to endorse the conspiracy theories. Fifteen percent of people who got none of the questions right thought that three or four of the conspiracies were likely, compared to three percent of those who answered three or four correctly. Education also tended to reduce belief in the conspiracy theories.

However, the relationship between current events knowledge and belief in conspiracy theories is conditional on partisanship. Among Democrats, each question answered correctly reduces the likelihood of endorsing at least one of the conspiracy theories by seven points. Among independents, each additional question reduces it by two points. For Republicans, though, each additional question answered correctly tends to increase belief in at least one of the
theories by two points.

“There are several possible explanations for this,” said Cassino. “It could be that more conspiracy-minded Republicans seek out more information, or that the information some Republicans seek out just tends to reinforce these myths.””

http://publicmind.fdu.edu/2013/outthere/

“The most popular of these conspiracy theories is the belief that President Obama is hiding important information about his background and early life”

This is no conspiracy theory. It is a well documented fact. Beginning in 2007 when Obama was interviewed while campaigning, Obama refused to supply records while he was in the IL Senate and consistently gave vague and evasive responses.

Beginning in 2008 and continuing to today, Obama has used a long list of private  attorneys such as Robert Bauer and numerous US Justice Dept. attorneys, at taxpayer expense, to avoid presenting legitimate birth, college, student loan and other records. For anyone not paying attention (living under a rock) during that period of time, Donald Trump, several months ago, offered Obama $ 5 million to release his college records. Obama refused to comply.

Conclusion: Obama hiding records?

Fact

Professor Dan Cassino stated:

“People tend to believe that where there’s smoke, there’s
fire – so the more smoke they see, the more likely they are to believe that something is going on.”

That is correct.

“Generally, the more people know about current events, the less likely they are to believe in conspiracy theories – but not among Republicans, where more knowledge leads to greater belief in political conspiracies.”

More knowledge by Republicans, and I would add, more respect for the US Constitution, makes them aware of Obama hiding his records.

“There are several possible explanations for this,” said Cassino. “It could be that more conspiracy-minded Republicans seek out more information, or that the information some Republicans seek out just tends to reinforce these myths.””

Bias apparent.

The questions asked were very poorly presented in the documentation. There are 2 questions that relate to unemployment:

“As far as you know, has unemployment increased, decreased, or stayed the same over the past twelve months?”

“Is unemployment higher, lower, or the same as it was when President Obama first took office in 2009?”

Instead of clarifying what they are referring to such as “stated unemployment rate” or “US Labor Dept. unemployment rate” they just state unemployment. The truly informed will pause, perhaps ask for clarification, and if none is given may answer it is difficult to ascertain. So many have dropped out of the labor force, i.e. the Labor Force Participation Rate has fallen so much that the number unemployed has stayed the same or possibly risen.

This poll and polling analysis is clearly biased and sloppy. Can these people be this uninformed or does political idealogy cloud their methodologies?

Peer review.

I am qualified.