May 1, 2024

Athens News

News in English from Greece

Poll companies: “Whatever we want, we’ll put into surveys, and we won’t say how we get the results”

The Association of Polls and Market Research Companies reacted negatively to the request of SYRIZA-PS to post primary and unapproved survey data, while more and more system polls cause confusion among citizens due to their results.

ΣΕΔΕΑ states that “the publication of unweighted data, on the one hand, is not provided for by Law 3603/2007, and on the other hand, their non-publication is the prevailing practice worldwide“. At the same time she notes that “if anyone wants more information on the polls, they can contact the Poll Control Bureau.”

Basically the polling companies are saying they will produce whatever results they want without accountability to anyone, which is surprising since we have seen many polls debunked in recent years and it is not out of the question that we will see the same in elections in May!

Recall that yesterday Popi Tsapanidou, among other things, urged: “Poll companies should present their work transparently by publishing primary and informal data from their surveys from now on.”

ΣΕΔΕΑ’s statement in detail:

“Regarding the request of the SYRIZA spokesman, published yesterday in the media, for polling companies to publish their unweighted primary data, ΣΕΔΕΑ states the following:

  • ΣΕΔΕΑ member companies comply with the provisions of Law 3603/2007 on opinion polls and operate with absolute transparency.
  • ΣΕΔΕΑ member companies are screened for public opinion polls through Data collection quality control system (ΠΕΣΣ) and are certified on its basis.
  • The publication of unweighted data, on the one hand, is not provided for by Law 3603/2007, on the other hand, their non-publication is an established practice worldwide.
  • As a reminder, survey audits may have access to raw unweighted data as part of any survey audit. Therefore, if someone needs additional control over the poll, they can turn to poll management.
  • For ΣΕΔΕΑ, the problem is the publication of surveys by companies that do not follow the dictates of the law, are not part of SEDEA and are not controlled in their research..

A. Skertsos is on the side of sociologists

Of course, the polling companies had an “ally” as Akis Skertzos, in his first appearance as a government spokesman, attacked SYRIZA for asking him to release the poll data. According to him, questioning the results of the survey is … populism!

“SYRIZA does not surprise us. On the contrary, it is quite predictable. He did the same in 2019 and dropped out completely. After all, interrogation – opinion polls is one of the main tools of every political populist, especially when he loses. It depends on ΣΕΔΕΑ whether it will respond to this attack on the election campaigns, ”- said the right hand of Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

In fact, he raised questions by stating that there are “unstable data”that the government is aware of: “Publishing surveys with unidentified data is like taking a bath in your clothes. And in any case, let them beware of what is asked, because it is very possible that unstable data can lead to even worse indicators for them, ” he reasoned.

Hours after the announcement by Stelios Petsas, who hinted that there was a “line” from the PM’s communicators not to hold debates between the two leaders because it… would hurt Mitsotakis, Skertsos, in turn, preferred televised debates among all political leaders .

Akis Skertsos did not hesitate to attack SYRIZA spokeswoman Poppy Tsapanida, calling her a “Trumpist*”: “The spokeswoman for SYRIZA is back ‘Trumpist’ and more unrestrained. Now she analyzes us, also with global originality, what kind of ‘propaganda’ is: the number of televised battles, the time of speeches of parties and the way poll results are presented,” Skirtsos said, insisting on “hiding” the debate.

*Trumpism is a term that refers to the political ideology, social emotions, management style, political movement, and set of mechanisms for acquiring and maintaining control over power associated with the 45th US President Donald Trump and his political base. Trump’s opponents also use the meaning to refer to conspiracy theorists and anyone who sees Democrats’ policies as wrong and harmful.





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