Do fake poll options annoy you ?

Felan · Post by **Felan** » Sat Dec 13, 2003 1:53 pm

ok that was mean and evil...I eat you now

/me eats you

Calus · Post by **Calus** » Sat Dec 13, 2003 2:10 pm

Will people stop using first person style writing when it should be third person.

Goddess of thy Coconut · Post by **Goddess of thy Coconut** » Sat Dec 13, 2003 2:18 pm

Of course they do, because they ruins the data you are trying to collect. Collecting data is the purpose of a poll. With the ability to collect data to removed, there is no reason for it to be a poll. You could simply ask a question without one, like I have seen in some of the other forums here. Fake poll options are making this forum useless. They aren't even funny anymore.

Prospero · Post by **Prospero** » Sat Dec 13, 2003 3:23 pm

/me has no problem with it, honestly.

/me hugs Calus, too.
Come here, my intimate lover.

dmpotter · Post by **dmpotter** » Sat Dec 13, 2003 4:14 pm

Nah, fake options aren't bad. They sort of count like an "other" or "I'm not going to answer" option. Like in a recent poll that said that most people in our state preferred something, the poll listed 50% supported and 30% didn't support. Obviously 20% didn't answer is some form (didn't know, didn't answer, flipped the bird, whatever).

If the fake option is winning, either most people have no valid answer, or most people didn't actually have an opinion but wanted to be counted anyway. At least, that's how I see it.

Phoenix Talon · Post by **Phoenix Talon** » Sat Dec 13, 2003 5:18 pm

I think that they are fine, as long as they aren't over done. Like dmpotter said, it's a replacement for an "other" answer. And I vote smaointe. Why? Because I haven't before, and I can.

Stapr · Post by **Stapr** » Sat Dec 13, 2003 8:10 pm

No, they only annoy me when they are used too much. Normally, I see the fake option as the "other" option. There are certain polls that I don't have an answer for, or an opinion towards, but I like to see what other people have chosen. Yes, I could click the "See results" link, but I don't like doing it everytime I view the poll. I have to wait for another page to load, and that wastes bandwidth.

The accuracy of the data is a good point. There are some people who always choose the fake option over the other options, regardless of what their opinion really is. These people reduce the accuracy of the collected data. However, people who view the fake option as the "other" option increase the accurateness of the poll. If you don't have an extra option, people who have no opinion wouldn't vote, which results in you only collecting data from a certain section of the populace. By providing the extra option, people who have no opinion will say so, and you're polling a larger pool of people.

Calus · Post by **Calus** » Sat Dec 13, 2003 9:29 pm

I still like those people that spend a dollar to tell the world that they "don't know."

elroy · Post by **elroy** » Sat Dec 13, 2003 11:57 pm

I've seen polls that only require a yes or no or something similar. Pretty much black or white, and still have a fake poll option. If you got no oppinion, then please don't share it either.

Smaointe · Post by **Smaointe** » Tue Dec 16, 2003 5:46 am

It's not too hard to just discount the fake option replies....

Last time I checked, this forum wasn't for scientific collection of data

Mav · Post by **Mav** » Tue Dec 16, 2003 6:20 am

Stapr must hate me.

Fixer · Post by **Fixer** » Tue Dec 16, 2003 1:20 pm

Besides, if the options do not include Smaointe, about half the guys on the forums don't know what option to choose. You think they read the question BEFORE choosing a selection?

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