Polls: what do you think? Locked

Awesome work guys, this is a feature I have hoped for, for a very long time. Hopefully it will reduce many of the long threads we've had in the past, and give a clearer indicator as to peoples opinions on a given matter.

Thanks.

"Where is the D4 review" ...

As any other feature, this will be both used and misused, but it seem like a genuinely good idea since many threads are variations of "What do you think of ..." where the OP often prefer a limited range of answers (like: "yes / no / that's not a cheeseburger") to get some sense of a general opinion.

Problem with all these forums, polls and voting opportunities is that more and more opinions, and less facts, are thrown at us, with the larger part coming straight from the underbelly, not brains. Not worth reading, in contrast to the reviews, previews and generally accurate facts presented on DP-review. So please keep up the good work and stay away from the vox populi.

Hey, why no D4 review? I am not a Leica fan boy, why so few reviews of Leica, both camera and lens?

Don't allow comments in polls. Polls shoud be just a poll, not a discussion.

Cool now we can actually collect statistical evidence to ignore in the ongoing debatte!!!

Thanks DPR.

I'm sure this is  a feature that will get more than a little use.

This is great, will reduce some *NT* posts! A nice future addition can be an option for public or anonymous polls where the poll shows which users voted for which option (public) or hide it (anonymous).

This should help us get that RAW versus JPEG issue under control finally :-\

I agree.  which is why i'm supporting this comment on poll by commenting on it.

Endless entertainment, you keep adding features to your MMO -RPG.

Non-useful statistical evidence. The response sample is not representative of any particular population other than those who had some necessarily biased reason to respond. Which is pretty useless. Am I wrong?

I think it is a total waste of time - yours and the readers. I won't be using it.

That's what I'm talkin' about!

Wouldn't it have been appropriate to create a poll to gage whether people welcome the polling feature or not? Or am I being oblivious and it'd just not visible on the mobile interface?

Answer: None of the above.

Simon Joinson wrote:

... let's be honest, there's bound to be something terrible we didn't think of.

"Poll" threads need to allow for (uncensored) written responses. Since that is not possible in an editorially controlled environment, such "polls" themselves will be biased and not representative.

They will instead constitute an "entertainment venue" for those who happen to be allowed to speak, and for those who happen to be allowed to choose from a biased set of leading questions.

Vox populi is a Latin phrase meaning "voice of the people". That phrase is a misnomer in this case.

Leading Questions

... a leading question or suggestive interrogation is a question that suggests the particular answer or contains the information the examiner is looking to have confirmed. Their use is restricted in eliciting testimony in court, to reduce the ability of the examiner to direct or influence the evidence presented.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leading_question

Sampling Bias

... a bias in which a sample is collected in such a way that some members of the intended population are less likely to be included than others. It results in a biased sample, a non-random sample of a population (or non-human factors) in which all individuals, or instances, were not equally likely to have been selected.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sampling_bias

This amounts to the mere illusion of vox populi, by the vox populi delectis ("voice of the selected people"). "Selected" in the sense that censorship exists (designated editorial authority to delete content at will, typically executed not by paid DPR administrators, but by unpaid volunteers).

In such an environment, voice will only selectively given only to those pollsters whose queries happen to comport with what unpaid volunteers may deem to be "constructive interactions".

Even in a case where it might be DPR administration that imposes editorial control over such "polls", those queries which are deleted never see the light day. The problems should be clear ...

In an environment where questions themselves can be deleted, who can assure that answers themselves cannot be deleted ? Further, censorship of the questions themselves is tantamount to censorship of the answers to only those typically deemed acceptable to editorial controllers.

It is hard to imagine a more flawed and biased way to construct what is functionally merely an illusion of the "voice of the people". George Gallup would (and should) be turning over in his grave.

(NT)

They are a bit of fun. Try googling that.
--
Simon Joinson, Editor-in-chief
dpreview.com
connect.dpreview.com

It appears replies in poll threads are not marked as read after thehy are read.

Yes that was the choice I faced.
--
Simon Joinson, Editor-in-chief
dpreview.com
connect.dpreview.com