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"DAILY KOS" fooled into posting Phony Poll Data

Melensdad

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Caught :hammer:

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0610/Markos_charges_polling_fraud.html
June 29, 2010
Categories: Polls
Markos charges polling fraud

Whoa:

We contracted with Research 2000 to conduct polling and to provide us with the results of their surveys. Based on the report of the statisticians, it's clear that we did not get what we paid for. We were defrauded by Research 2000, and while we don't know if some or all of the data was fabricated or manipulated beyond recognition, we know we can't trust it. Meanwhile, Research 2000 has refused to offer any explanation. Early in this process, I asked for and they offered to provide us with their raw data for independent analysis — which could potentially exculpate them. That was two weeks ago, and despite repeated promises to provide us that data, Research 2000 ultimately refused to do so. At one point, they claimed they couldn't deliver them because their computers were down and they had to work out of a Kinkos office. Research 2000 was delivered a copy of the report early Monday morning, and though they quickly responded and promised a full response, once again the authors of the report heard nothing more.​

Guessing whether pollsters simply concoct their data — it's cheaper, and more likely to please a client looking for a specific result — is a parlor game among political consultants. That's what Markos Moulitsas is charging here.
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Melensdad

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Looks like the WASHINGTON POST, and perhaps dozens of other newspapers, were also duped into printing, publishing and/or posting false data from Research 2000 that was contracted by The DAILY KOS.

It's war! Lawyer for DailyKos details lawsuit against Research 2000
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2010/06/lawyer_for_dailykos_details_la.html

Okay, I just got off the phone with a lawyer for DailyKos, and he gave me a bunch of interesting new detail about the lawsuit Kos is going to file against the polling outfit Research 2000.

The gist: This is likely to be a serious lawsuit that is going to flush a lot out into the open, and prompt a serious discussion about what news orgs should be doing to vet polling data they commission.

In case you missed it, DailyKos founder Markos Moulitsas today revealed that he was preparing to sue Research 2000, which Kos has commissioned polling from for years. Kos said a trio of statistics experts dug into their polling and concluded that much of the polling "we ran the past year and a half was likely bunk."

Kos's lawyer, Adam Bonin, tells me:

1) The lawsuit will be for breach of contract, fraud, and negligent misrepresentation, and will be filed in the Northern District of California, where Markos is based.

2) This goes beyond the trio of experts that Markos cited today. Bonin says that they took their findings to "other experts in statistics and polling," and that they agreed with the analysis finding the polling to be highly questionable. This underscores the seriousness of the charge.

3) The president of Research 2000 promised Markos in an email that the firm would divulge all of its data supporting the polling conclusions sold to DailyKos, but never followed through, Bonin says. He adds that a June 14th email from Research 2000 president Del Ali to Markos says: "As far as I'm concerned you can have all the raw data."

"They handed us fiction and told us it was fact," Bonin charged. "It's pretty damn clear that numbers were fabricated, and that the polling that we paid for was not performed."

Research 2000 chief Ali rejected the charge that anything is amiss. "I will tell you unequivocally that we conducted EVERY poll properly for the Daily Kos," Ali told the Post's polling director, Jon Cohen.

Kos' lawyer, for his part, rejected the idea that DailyKos should have shown more skepticism about the polling. "This was a reputable polster who had done polling for a number of other organizations," he said. "This is about defending the Web site and defending our readers from a fraud that was perpetrated on them."

Wow.

Full disclosure: This blog, like Post blogs, regularly linked to Research 2000 polls, because the firm has been on the Post's "approved" list. Like I said above, this is likely to prompt a serious discussion about whether news orgs should be doing more to vet the polling they commission or publish.
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loboloco

loboloco

Well-known member
And why should this bother the 'KOS'? Nearly every thing they come up with is hysteria based on distortions at best.
 
Melensdad

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Well the interesting thing is that the Daily Kos/Research 2000 polls are WIDELY REPRINTED by the mainstream media. So all of a sudden its not just the left wing Daily Kos that gets the black eye but all the media outlets that have accepted the Daily Kos contracted polls as "fact" and worthy of reprinted without ever bothering to check the data.

Don't check the data and you get burned. By default, Daily Kos got burned in this because they are the firm that was contracting the polls and pushing them out to the media as fact. Daily Kos will recover from this mess, but its likely their polls won't be so widely published in the future, no matter what polling company they use.
 
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