Polling data

During one of my forays into higher education, I took a few classes on media research methods.  They leaned more towards finding out what kind of TV shows the lowest common denominator of America wanted to watch, but still, it makes me think about how research groups and polls are conducted.

Polling for the sake of politics is a different beast, I will admit.  But I still wonder about how people can tout a result to a survey question when the survey taker is given an either/or result.

Consider the following question:

Which option do you consider better for undocumented immigrants currently in the U.S.?

• Require them to return to their country
• Allow those with jobs, no criminal records to stay
• Don't know

Now consider the article that's got me thinking about this:

While most Arizonans support Senate Bill 1070, even more of them support allowing working illegal immigrants with no criminal records to remain here, an Arizona Republic poll indicates.

Sixty-two percent of those polled by WestGroup Research support such an option, often derided as "amnesty" by its opponents. By comparison, 31 percent of respondents feel illegal immigrants should be required to return to their native country.

I can't help but wonder what the results would have been if the following questions had been asked:

Which option do you consider better for undocumented immigrants currently in the U.S.?

• Make it so uncomfortable here in Arizona that they self-deport to states that don't think illegal immigration is a problem
• Allow those with jobs, no criminal records to stay
• Don't know

Or to actually get down to the real issue:

Do you support allowing those undocumented immigrants currently in the U.S. with jobs, no criminal records to stay?

• Yes
• No

But really, what I want to know is this:

If you support allowing undocumented immigrants currently in the U.S. with jobs and no criminal records to stay in the U.S., do you wonder how they got jobs in Arizona being that employers must verify their immigration status with e-Verify before hiring:

• Yes
• No

Do you consider identity theft (in this case, using someone else's social security number to gain employment or other benefits) to be a crime:

• Yes
• No

If you answered no to the previous question, have you ever been the victim of theft of any kind:

• Yes
• No

And this:

If you support allowing undocumented immigrants currently in the U.S. with jobs and no criminal records to stay in the U.S., do you think they should be eligible for unemployment benefits after being granted "amnesty" if their employer decides to fire them because it's much cheaper for the employer to hire another undocumented immigrant who didn't take up said offer for amnesty, rather than pay for all the benefits that a U.S. citizen earns?

• Yes
• No

I think the results might be quite interesting.

~~Code Monkey