Push Polling- Revised

Joseph Abdul

5/4/2014

Push Polling- Revised

            As one of the ways to inform the public about environment issues, the tactic of push polling was utilized. Our group had set up the survey to where it can serve the purpose. Of course, it was not a neutral survey; it was more of an informative phone call. We asked simple, non-intruding questions at the beginning and end. In the body of the survey we created statement questions, which were the "push" factor. The people who actually completed the survey seemed very interested listening and sharing their opinions. Thus I believe they conceived the information we pushed to them.  

            The most crucial part of the surveys was calling our community residents. During the two hours of calling, I completed three surveys. It seems like the time of calling played a big role in successful survey completion. My first session was between 8 and 9 PM, where I only accomplished one survey. The other session was 5-6 PM; I completed two surveys. More than five people refused the survey in the first session, I believe due to bad timing. I encountered a couple of businesses, a Spanish-speaking woman, and the Madera Unified School District. Besides that, I admired the calling website. It made the process easier and faster.

            There were few steps I could have accomplished in a better way. Knowing that I am a slow reader, memorizing the questions would have had a positive impact. It would have made me sound more fluent, not reading a script. Also, practicing the greeting and the voice for the approach would have helped. The survey itself had one flaw: the gender question. I didn't feel comfortable asking such question over the phone. I filled in the answer according to my assumption for the gender. Over all, I believe it was a great experience.

            Analyzing the survey results, it is clear that most of the participants answered "no" to the informative questions. These questions asked participants if they knew about certain statistics regarding our cause. This means that our reach-out to people was effective since they were not aware of those facts. Participants had a 1:4 ratio between those who did not favor the Valley air quality and those who did, and a 1:1 ratio between those who had their health affected by air quality. "Have you ever heard of climate change?" 2 out of 22 people who answered this question said no. It is frightening to know that some individuals are not even familiar with climate change. Reading through the open responses, I was shocked by some of the terminology people have used to emphasize their carelessness about the issue. Other answers were more logical; on others respectfully said they do not care about global warming.