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March 3, 2006
Polling Zogby: Agenda-Driven Polling Par Excellance? (updated)
Topics: Political News and commentariesToday, Dan at Riehl World View, is questioning the motives of a Zogby "partner", and writes that he could not find "one single qualification of Information International of Beirut which suggests they would be an appropriate choice to poll the US military, particularly while on the battlefield during a time of war."
Pollster John Zogby apparently hung up on Hugh Hewitt today. Read Hugh's piece here. It brought Information International of Beirut to my attention. So I thought I'd look into them. It was a bit surprising to find that the name has absolutely no indexing through Google News. One would think a reputable international polling organization would have been mentioned in at least one news article, particularly one the well-known pollster, Zogby, claims as a partner.Dan's concern is not the first one voiced in regard to the Zogby organization in regard to bias and what some consider to be agenda-driven results.
Given, the Zogby poll does have a sterling reputation, is a highly respected organization, and has been able to acquire contracts for the purpose of supplying "unbiased" polling for several top media outlets including the Wall Street Journal, Reuters, and NBC. However, this is what you see on the surface, and after a bit of scratching, a different view emerges.
Back on January 6, T.L. Stanley, a blogger at Rosemead Times, had this to say about the Zogby organization and it's cast of characters that bring new meaning to the ideal of being open to questions of bias and hidden agendas:
Assuming our fellow blogger did his homework and is reasonably accurate in his analysis and information gathering (I've checked his links and it appears to be appropriately sourced), one would be hard pressed not to consider a strong potential for bias and agenda-driven results in polling conducted by the Zogby organization and any "partners" they would select to collaborate with - and Dan would have good reason to question the results of a poll by one of their partners, particularly one in the Middle East.James J. Zogby (interesting link to MIM and reference to Zogby and Saudi -Wahabi lobby) is President of the Arab American Institute, And, John Zogby is President and Chief Executive Officer of Zogby International. Pollster John Zogby was a left wing activist who ran for public office and may still seek public office as a Democrat in the future. James and John Zogby are highly supportive of Saudi politics. In addition, they provide polling statistics that often go unchallenged despite the evidence of their Islamist and pro Saudi bias.
Brothers John and James Zogby, are two examples of how professional marketing and outstanding public relations have enabled them to advocate positions that support a pro-Wahabi and anti-American agenda. Furthermore, when James and John Zogby speak about American policy decisions regarding the Middle East, an astute reader of international news might conclude that Zogby has a vested interest in manipulating American public and political opinion.
Furthermore, Zogby's 2004 election day prediction that Democratic candidate John Kerry would win more than 311 electoral votes and the presidency was a perfect example of his flawed partisan polling. Plus, when his flawed prediction failed to become a reality, his organization joined Democratic Party nabobs in calling for an investigation.
"Shawnta Watson Walcott, communications director for Zogby International, joined a group of liberal Democrats at a faux congressional hearing focused on whether fraud influenced the Nov. 2 outcome."
It is hard to imagine that an unbiased polling organization would become an advocate for the Democratic Party. Therefore, Zogby gave another indication that partisan politics trumps objectivity in gathering polling data.
Polipundent has previously waded in on Zogby's agenda:
Zogby uses his own polls to drive some of his demographic parameters, a practice not approved, much less recommended, by either the NCPP or the AAPOR.So, within the framework of all of this evidence pointing toward Zogby having an agenda with a bias against U.S. interests and certainly those of a Republican administration (I'd be complaining just as loudly were we looking at an organization conducting polls with a Republican bias), does Dan have good reason to question the motives and results of polling conducted by a Zogby partner?All in all, Zogby's habit of confusing his personal opinion with data-driven conclusions, his admitted practice of manipulating the respondent pool and his demographic weights, by standards not accepted anywhere else, along with mixing Internet polls with telephone interview results, forces me to reject his polls as unacceptable; they simply cannot be verified, and I strongly warn the reader that there is no established benchmark for the Zogby reports, even using previous Zogby polls, because he has changed his practices from his own history.
You bet he does!
The Christian Science Monitor hosted a breakfast with John Zogby (the pollster) and James Zogby (president of the Arab American Institute). Low and behold, the Zogby poll is described as being run by BOTH of them, not just by the pollster, and the discussion of it on TV has involved both of them - John talking about the poll itself, then a quick tag to James who rails against U.S. foreign policy..."
We must no forget that the War On Terror more than a war of military operations, but also one for the hearts and minds of people around the world and particularly here in America, where we need unity and common purpose in fighting the Islamist agenda and in countering their propaganda. Zogby and his "partner"(s) is(are) on the Islamist side of the equation, the side of the Saudi -Wahabi lobby and the Islamists.
Update: California Yankee has more with additional links.
Posted by Richard at March 3, 2006 9:07 AM
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