Polling is a tricky business, and trying to understand issues and the public’s view requires a certain amount of art. When I teach my classes, I try to emphasize with them that they will see lots of “results” that come from “research” that may or may not line up.

Here’s an example from the NYTimes. The article begins by recognizing that there is some ambivalence about unions:

Labor unions are not exactly popular, though: A third of those surveyed viewed them favorably, a quarter viewed them unfavorably, and the rest said they were either undecided or had not heard enough about them.

Here is the result the article trumpets in the headline:

Americans oppose weakening the bargaining rights of public employee unions by a margin of nearly two to one: 60 percent to 33 percent.

Strong evidence, apparently. But, here is the actual question that leads to the result:

Collective bargaining refers to negotiations between an employer and a labor union’s members to determine the conditions of employment. Some states are trying to take away some collective bargaining rights of public employee unions. Do you favor or oppose taking away some collective bargaining rights of the unions?

I added the emphasis here – employer. Who exactly is the employer?  Who does the public employee union negotiate with?  Those answers are clear if we’re talking about a private company.  But who is the employer of a public employee?

The question introduces a premise in the question, and does it affect the choices of those asked this particular question? Would an alternate premise change the results?  Suppose the question mentioned that taxpayers are responsible for the result of the negotiations, but are not necessarily represented during the negotiations?

(btw, I think it is great that we regularly get to see the exact question, so that we can think more carefully about what we just “learned.”)