Are lit polls statistically reliable?

WriterDom

Good to the last drop
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Usually I'm truthful. But if I have no interest in the poll, I'll pick something off the wall just to skew the data.
 
Lit polls statistically reliable? Not in this lifetime.

Half the time, they aren't even statistically valid. They don't even come close to measuring the phenomenon they are "asking" about.
 
morninggirl5 said:
Lit polls statistically reliable? Not in this lifetime.

Half the time, they aren't even statistically valid. They don't even come close to measuring the phenomenon they are "asking" about.

What she said.

:D
girl
 
I think they are 100% reliable indicators of the thoughts and opinions of people at Lit who answer polls in the GB.


Whatever that means.
 
I don't think that

any polls or statistics are reliable as the facts they seem to represent.
 
No way; even if everyone who answered them was completely truthful the polls could not be reliable in the least:

1) A statistically reliable poll would need a random sample, and the polls posted here are not since people who answer them usually have some interest in answering a particular poll, but not another.

2) Even if the sample was random, the sample size just isn't large enough. Yes being random is more important, but a certain size is necessary too.

3) The questions are not engineered to be neutral and will always skew the results. A good poll has very carefully worded questions so as not to encourage biased answers.

I could go on and on, but there just is no way these polls are statistically reliable or even anywhere near it. The polls are interesting and informative, but should not be relied on for anything more than speculation and entertainment.
 
Well, the poll is taking a sample of those responding to it, so it's really only representitive of those people interested in it. For example, if you posted a thread entitled: 'POLL: Do you like anal sex?', mostly people who like anal sex would respond. Those who don't typically (albeit not always) pass these questions up. The gender mix is a whole other issue I won't get into here, but you can imagine the part it plays, and how specifically wording your question yields different results.

On the bright side, if you wanted to do a serious online poll, you could just sample, say, 12 random threads per forum, and choose one random poster from each, and PM them with your query (Unregistred guests excluded, naturally). The result? A diversified, and probably legit poll! (Go publish that in a periodical!)
 
The polls at Literotica are so fine-tuned that they represent the opinions of the entire planet with only a +/-.08 error of margin.
I hope that answers your questions.
 
Laurel said:
I think they are 100% reliable indicators of the thoughts and opinions of people at Lit who answer polls in the GB.

No. They are 100% reliable indicators of which buttons the people that visit Literotica's General Board, who answers polls, press the most.

This translates to 10% to 0% reliablity when it comes to the general opinions and thoghts of the people in the real world.
 
WriterDom said:
Usually I'm truthful. But if I have no interest in the poll, I'll pick something off the wall just to skew the data.

Unless I have a strong answer, I always skew the data. I've taken research methods courses in graduate school. Polls here are like sports point spreads in most American cities--for entertainment purposes only. :p
 
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