Statistics?

Question

Political parties often conduct their own pre-election polls to find out what voters think about their campaign and their candidates. How might a political party bias such a poll?
Please help!
Thank-you

Answer 1

A poll can use vague language to get people to agree with assertions that no one would disagree with, like "Do you agree with Senator John Smith that families must be protected?". Most people, Republican or Democrat, would say yes. Senator Smith's plan for 'protecting families' could be anything from smoke alarms in children's rooms to forced sterilization for unwed mothers.

Push polling takes it a step further and tries to influence the person taking the poll. This makes the poll pretty useless. A push poll might say something like, "Governor Jack Jones let convicted rapist Stevie Ray Thompson out on parole. Do you think rapists should roam the streets at night?" Sometimes these backfire (as this example question might) for trying to manipulate people's emotions in an obvious fashion.

Answer 2

Release the polls to areas where they know they have a lot of support

Answer 3

They may target groups that share their political beliefs (i.e. conservative candidates may poll church members, NRA members, or any other group that may have more conservative beliefs).