Online Polls

It is always interesting to see what type of questions are posted online for users to vote on. Websites like CNN.com, MSN.com, ESPN.com, or ABCnews.com usually have a daily survey for people to share their opinions.

Most of these online polls are very different from one another and also have a huge range of results. It is common to see sports questions, political questions, or hot-topic questions from the day.

Take today for an example. When checking ESPN's poll, it posted the question, "Who is the best AFC team through mid-season? The Colts, Jets, Pats, Ravens, or Steelers?" Being a Colts fan, I had to vote for them. However, of the 108,345 people that voted, the Colts only received 18% of the vote. Overall, the Pats received the most, at 38%. Here we see that a decent amount of people turned out to vote for the daily sports question posted by ESPN.

You would think that another poll posted by FOXsports would yield the same results. They posed the question, "Is Auburn QB Cam Newton still a Heisman candidate? Yes, it is about his performance on the field, or No, he could be another Reggie Bush." Only 8,971 people voted, of which 56% said no, 44% yes.

This made me think about why some sites have better turn out. This one is not too difficult to figure out. For starters, ESPN is the world wide leader in sports. FOXsports is not as highly recognized compared to ESPN. But it doesn't stop there.

Would you think that most sports polls would fare better than political or hot-topic of the day questions?

You'd be surprised by the answer.

ABCnews posted a question about whether or not we agree that Nancy Pelosi should run for House Majority Leader. Of the dismal 3,608 that voted, 2,724 said no, because she is partly responsible for the loses on Tuesday's election. The poll by ABCnews is not as high tech as ESPN's poll. For instance, ESPN provided a percentage of the total number, along with the actual number of that percentage. They also provided an interactive map where you can see the numbers in each state. However, with FOX and ABC, all you could see what a percentage or a number. Even on CNN's poll concerning value meals with toys becoming healthier for kids, they showed a number and a percentage of the 35,000 that voted.

It is odd to see that more people seemed to vote on sports issues compared to important issues in our country today. I was shocked by the responses personally, as I figured more people would care about things that actually influence them on a day-to-day basis. I guess I was wrong though.

Finally, I feel it would be interesting to discover more about online polls. I certainly would enjoy knowing what type of questions are generally posted on the net. Then, I'd like to figure out exactly why some sites choose to make their polls more elaborate while some choose the more basic style. If you have any ideas, maybe you could create a question poll about it.

Jordan