The 1984 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll [more inside]
posted by Joe Beese on Jan 31, 2009 - 85 comments

80 percent of Americans say global warming is real and poses a threat to humanity. Which is good because if the global temperature raises by 4 degrees we're all dead. However only 44 percent would be willing to face any financial hardship in the name of a solution.
posted by Artw on Aug 10, 2008 - 89 comments

In what may be the silliest poll ever taken, British women say Men Named Dave are Most Likely to be "Well Endowed". There's a whole "Top 10" and "Bottom 10" list of names... see how you stack up. The people who did the survey do this kind of thing for companies to get publicity. It works pretty well. [more inside]
posted by wendell on Feb 4, 2008 - 97 comments

The poll tax caused massive rioting in the UK. Will the pole tax move Texans to do the same? There's an interesting class-war aspect to the story. The bill specifies that the revenue generated will support sexual assault prevention programs, though the bill's legality is being litigated.
posted by aerotive on Jan 8, 2008 - 51 comments

Who would the world elect for President of the United States?
posted by augustweed on Nov 18, 2007 - 117 comments

And we're off! Prime Minister John Howard has set the date for the Australian Federal election as November 24th, meaning we're up for a long six-week campaign. With Kevin Rudd leading the PM by between 16 to 18 points (depending on who you read) in recent opinion polls, this election seems the most likely to provide a change of Government since Howard was first elected 11 years ago. Antony Green's usual excellent election guide is up and running here, along with an excellent calculator which shows which seats are up for grabs dependent on a 2 party preferred swing. You might also want to check out the Vote-O-Matic, a fun but entirely disposable quiz which aims to help you decide who you'll vote for. [more inside]
posted by Effigy2000 on Oct 13, 2007 - 603 comments

According to a recent Zogby poll, parents would rather their daughter meet a date at a bar or a Star Trek convention than through online dating.
posted by Afroblanco on Jan 31, 2007 - 44 comments

Poll: Americans see gloom, doom in 2007. Another terrorist attack, a warmer planet, death and destruction from a natural disaster are predicted by most Americans. 35 percent predict the military draft will be reinstated and one in four, 25 percent, anticipates the second coming of Jesus Christ.
posted by stbalbach on Dec 31, 2006 - 67 comments

What Makes a Muslim Radical? Gallup polls 9000 Muslims in 9 countries and separates the Moderates from the Radicals. Most of the results are counter to "Conventional Wisdom". The most important stuff is on the last page of 5, including the methodology for deciding who was radical and who was moderate (in small print). Let's all get out our copies of How to Lie With Statistics and see if this survey is fatally flawed, shall we?
posted by wendell on Nov 20, 2006 - 42 comments

While the nonpartisan Pew Research Center normally focuses on US domestic issues, such as the recently and narrowly failed flag-burning amendment, the Pew Global Attitudes Project takes a wider view with reports such as The Great Divide: How Westerners and Muslims View Each Other and 16-Nation Pew Global Attitudes Survey, with results that are parts obvious, non-obvious, foreboding, hopeful and contradictory in how the two societies seemingly feel about themselves and each other. [mi]
posted by Mr. Six on Jun 28, 2006 - 8 comments

Bush out of favor in 47 out of 50 states. The SurveyUSA 50-state-poll shows some interesting details on Bush's approval rating, which has fallen to just 35% in North (and South) Carolina, 29% in Missouri, and 42% in Texas. He remains popular in only three states: Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming. Could the Democrats have a shot even in Utah in the not-too-distant future? A lot of Utahns think so.
posted by insomnia_lj on May 16, 2006 - 89 comments

"Americans using Internet to make Major Decisions." (Ahem) Where have we heard of anything like that?
posted by Steven C. Den Beste on Apr 19, 2006 - 15 comments

"Do you want to see niggers in the state capital with their feet on the desk?"
"This newspaper believes in white supremacy, and it believes that the poll tax is one of the essentials for the preservation of white supremacy." From "Suffrage in the South" Part I, published January 1st, 1940 [mi]
posted by orthogonality on Nov 17, 2005 - 50 comments

Understanding elections beyond the red and blue axis. Since 1987, the Pew Research center has been conducting a political survey that divides voters into various typologies based on core beliefs-- upbeats and disaffected, enterprisers and bystanders -- and tracking political opinions and votes. The biggest trends have been the rise of disadvantaged pro-government conservatives and the shift of the middle to the right. Fortunately, there is a survey that will determine your type. Where does the typical MeFi visitor fit? (Hint from the typology: "Liberals- Affluent and highly secular...ideologically consistent on social issues, foreign policy and the role of government..nearly four-in-10 cite the Internet as their main source of news.")
posted by blahblahblah on May 11, 2005 - 41 comments

Federal Intervention in Schiavo Case Prompts Broad Public Disapproval Blowback? "The public, by 63 percent-28 percent, supports the removal of Schiavo's feeding tube, and by a 25-point margin opposes a law mandating federal review of her case. Congress passed such legislation and President Bush signed it early today...."
posted by Postroad on Mar 21, 2005 - 264 comments

Guess what? Another poll (since MeFites enjoy them sooooo much)! This one is a take on how much the world trusts and loves Bush.
posted by acrobat on Jan 20, 2005 - 7 comments

Nation split on Bush as uniter or divider. And 90% of CNN polls are half-mental. Or something. Via TMW
posted by XQUZYPHYR on Jan 19, 2005 - 42 comments

Ohio Poll Challengers Blocked Okayed. Keep track of all the other last-minute fraud here.
posted by mwhybark on Nov 2, 2004 - 56 comments

Why You Should Ignore The Gallup Poll This Morning - And Maybe All Of Theirs If you support the Dems, you might want to pass this on!
"This morning we awoke to the startling news that despite a flurry of different polls this week all showing a tied race, the venerable Gallup Poll, as reported widely in the media (USA Today and CNN) today, showed George W. Bush with a huge 55%-42% lead over John Kerry amongst likely voters. The same Gallup Poll showed an 8-point lead for Bush amongst registered voters (52%-44%). Before you get discouraged by these results, you should be more upset that Gallup gets major media outlets to tout these polls and present a false, disappointing account of the actual state of the race. Why?"...
posted by Postroad on Sep 17, 2004 - 58 comments

World wants Bush out. "Only one in five want to see Bush re-elected," "Senator Kerry was particularly favoured in traditionally strong US allies." Should America take into consideration the international support of their presidential hopefuls, or can they really go it alone in today's global community?
posted by krisjohn on Sep 8, 2004 - 32 comments

The 100 greatest British albums ... and look what came first. Why? I personally don't believe the justification given. And surely the word Rock is missing from the title of the poll because I don't see many other genres mentioned. To be honest, I'm with Miranda Sawyer on this one -- why aren't more girls aloud?
posted by feelinglistless on Jun 20, 2004 - 71 comments

Winning hearts and minds in Iraq (or anywhere else, for that matter)? Not really. Check this U.S.-sponsored poll, then pray and hope for the best.
posted by acrobat on Jun 16, 2004 - 19 comments

New poll: Bush sinking, Kerry surging Overall, 52 percent of those polled by NEWSWEEK say they would not like to see Bush serve a second term, compared to 44 percent who want to see him win again...
posted by Slagman on Jan 24, 2004 - 64 comments

Three million Germans have voted post-war Chancellor Konrad Adenauer as the greatest German of all time. Reformation Monk Martin Luther came second, with communist philosopher Karl Marx third. Composer Johann Sebastian Bach and writer Johannes Wolfgang von Goethe were also in the running. Adolf Hitler and other Nazis were excluded from the poll.
posted by stbalbach on Nov 30, 2003 - 16 comments

US TV news too liberal, say Americans. Nearly half of Americans think its news media is too liberal despite the rise of controversial hard-right cable channel Fox News. Only 14% of Americans believe the media to be too conservative, according to a poll by Gallup.
posted by MintSauce on Oct 8, 2003 - 68 comments

Don't just stand there - Bustamante!
Arnold Schwarzenegger would lose to Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante by five precentage points if the election were held today, according to a Field Poll of likely voters released today. Margin of error: 4.5%. How useful are polls like this when there are so many undecided factors still floating about? Poll tabs and analysis here. [PDF]
posted by GriffX on Sep 9, 2003 - 38 comments

Which 2004 U.S. presidential candidate are you? Think you know which candidate best aligns with your political ideals? You may be surprised. Me, I got 100% for Howard Dean, who I'd never heard of before. I don't really believe that anyone sharing my political leanings is going to get anywhere near the White House, but it's nice to know that there's someone out there for me... (ps. Posted before, but I think that three years is a good in-between time, and it's about that time again.)
posted by majcher on Jul 10, 2003 - 62 comments

The tide is turning. A new poll from the Pew Research Center indicates that the Bush Administration is losing support for a war against Iraq, with only 29% favoring war if U.N. inspectors fail to find weapons of mass destruction. Polls are looking considerably worse in Great Britain, where 47% of the public disapprove of an attack on Iraq, compared to just 30% in favor of such an attack. Blair is certain that he can get the British public to support war, however, even if Britain goes to war without U.N. support. "When and if that time came, people would find the reasons acceptable and satisfactory because there is no other route available to us."
posted by insomnia_lj on Jan 21, 2003 - 55 comments

One-in, one-out: the nominations. "Who should be granted honorary British citizenship and who should have it revoked?" The BBC's Today programme has its annual poll and this year, it claims, is a little different. Various celebrities, politicians etc will be giving their opinions and the result will be announced on New Year's Day. Who will you be voting for?
posted by Kiell on Dec 18, 2002 - 6 comments

Decision 2002 Friends! The time for action is now. Will you let your voice be heard?
posted by nicholm on Jul 26, 2002 - 5 comments

College Students Speak Out, and just 14% can identify the president of Pakistan, 37% would likely try to evade the draft, and 71% "do not believe American values are superior to the values of other nations." Is your local college breeding ignorant anti-Americanists?
posted by dack on Jun 21, 2002 - 45 comments

The two best music videos ever are Spike Jonze productions, says VH1. Weapon Of Choice wins, followed by Sabotage. Personally I'd go for Island In The Sun out of the Jonze oeuvre, but all-time......off the top of my head I'd probably go for Lionel Ritchie's comedy classic 'Hello'. What do you reckon to be the top dog of music promos?
posted by boneybaloney on Apr 26, 2002 - 79 comments

Village Voice Pazz & Jop Pool is out. Albums and Singles.
posted by rex on Feb 12, 2002 - 34 comments

Public Survey for Input to the Planetary Decadal Survey. The Planetary Society is seeking input from the public for NASA's planetary research priorities for the next 10 years. The deadline for taking the survey is January 31st.
posted by homunculus on Jan 26, 2002 - 4 comments

"Any sufficiently advanced form of technology is indistinguishable from magic." -- Arthur C. Clarke
Apparently we've reached that point in the US.
posted by Steven Den Beste on Jan 19, 2002 - 43 comments

Polls say blacks tend to favor checks.
"African-Americans ... are more likely than other racial groups to favor profiling and stringent airport security checks for Arabs and Arab-Americans in the wake of this month's terrorist attacks, two separate polls indicate."

"The findings by the Gallup Organization and Zogby International were met with varying degrees of disappointment and disbelief by black activists and intellectuals, who struggled with explanations."

Could it be that income and education are more related to racialist attitudes than race itself?
posted by sigsegv on Oct 2, 2001 - 16 comments

Browsing the results of Time's "Worst Ideas of the 20th Century" poll (Daryl Hall's solo career, Ugandan Space Program) made me wonder whether we've got a candidate for the next one already: (more...)
posted by luser on Sep 17, 2001 - 24 comments

Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.
posted by obiwanwasabi on Sep 13, 2001 - 15 comments

20 percent would give up great sex or personal wealth if some genie would grant them eternally perfect hair. Women think about their hair almost as much as they think about sex. A new poll says that a woman spends 43 minutes a day thinking about her hair vs. 48 minutes a day thinking about sex.
posted by 120degrees on Jul 30, 2001 - 46 comments

From 1972 to 1998, the number of American voters claiming to attend church regularly has stayed stable at 37%. The number who say they never attend church at all has risen from 14% to 33%. What affect will this have on American politics?
posted by Steven Den Beste on Jul 8, 2001 - 31 comments

In Their Own Words: Why Americans Approve or Disapprove of Bush. Sample quote from one who approves: "Because he's from Texas & so am I." Sample from one who disapproves: "Because Bush is a weenie."
posted by acridrabbit on Jul 6, 2001 - 31 comments

WSJ/NBC conducted a pretty extensive poll about the state of the country ranging from taxes to energy concerns to the Golden Dollar. I got the phone call to participate in the poll on Saturday and the questions were thought provoking and relevant...here are the results.
posted by Princess Buttercup on Mar 8, 2001 - 5 comments

Through rose-tinted spectacles? It's media waffle for a quiet news day, and comes on the back of a wave of nostalgia, but Reagan's "victory" in this latest poll feels like the triumph of selective memory, and of the desire to reassociate the presidency with jelly-bean eating. (FDR trails in fifth, and there's no mention of Woodrow Wilson, though Carter and Nixon get a look-in.) Which makes me wonder: does the US have a clear sense of its history, as far as Presidents are concerned?
posted by holgate on Feb 19, 2001 - 15 comments

We're all a bunch of ignorami. Hooray! Hurrah! It's bliss!
posted by Mr. skullhead on Jul 17, 2000 - 13 comments

We may be lonely, but at least we're enjoying it. Today, the results of a new internet use survey were released. The main finding is that 70% of users say that the internet is improving their lives, another notable stat was that over 50% of those polled had used the internet before. There was one odd thing they found, almost 60% said they enjoyed the idiot box (TV) more than the internet. Could it be because you actually have to participate to use the internet, and it's not a passive medium? Personally, I can find more enjoyable content on the web in five minutes than I can surfing a TV dial for a week.
posted by mathowie on Feb 24, 2000 - 3 comments