A new poll reveals a partisan dimension to what people think about opinion research.
71% of Democrats say they trust opinion polls, although 67% of Republicans say pollsters slant the results. That's according to a new poll from Roanoke College.
"I have never slanted a poll to reflect my views, and many people would be surprised to know my views actually," says Harry Wilson at the Institute for Policy and Opinion Research.
"I don't know how many pollsters are brave enough to ask these questions. But I don't know if I'm brave enough or foolish enough to ask them, but hey we asked them."
And respondents answered them, including another question about trust in the media. Only one in three Republicans say they trust the media and fewer than half of Democrats say they do.
"Even among a lot of journalists, no insult intended, objectivity is a quaint 20th century notion," Wilson says.
Researchers who conducted the poll also included what they call a "honey pot" question to catch bots, an effort to make sure that outside forces were not trying to influence the outcome.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
