THE EDITOR, Madam:
HOWEVER WELL intentioned, polls being conducted by media houses to elicit views from the public are in the main unscientific and can misleadingly appear to be a national canvas.
The method of soliciting views on a particular topic, question or issue is well utilised by media to the north. In those societies, problems associated with lack of randomness are significantly reduced by the sheer number of responses or by the selection of responses depending on the telephone numbers in states or districts. We do not have that luxury in Jamaica.
Allowing persons to self-select themselves without any controls will lead to bias sampling and error-laden results. So to announce that 58 per cent of 120 readers, viewers or 20 listeners answered positively to a question posed without knowing the composition of the sample represents the counting of numbers, not the representative views of the wider population.
It would be useful if each medium engaging in such practice check its phone records on any given day and it is likely that the sample is skewed to one geographical area or several phone numbers are used more than once to respond to the same question.
It is best to stick to the main raison d'tre for the vox populi just present a collection of some views and leave it at that. Trying to report views as national in scope can be deceptive because the results are not nationally derived.
I am etc.,
GLADSTONE WILSON
4 Kings Mews
Kingston 10
