Can We Trust Public Opinion Polls?

Nowadays when people get calls from unknown numbers they do not even answer let alone participate in the "short survey" they are promised. No one wants to take time out of their day to participate in a survey whose results they do not even care about and if they do they are among only 9 percent of Americans. Therefore, if only 9 percent of all Americans actually participate in these public opinion polls how can we trust them? Public opinion polls used to be significantly more reliable than they are now. Mostly when most people still had landlines and actually answered them. However, if a surveyor was to call landlines to get results for a poll then they would reach the extremely small percentage of Americans that still have landlines. The main problem with the lack of representation in public opinion polls is that these polls have a major influence on public opinion. Even though many people do not participate in the polls they still get the results and often change their opinions in response. An example of the inaccuracy in public opinion polls is seen in the 2016 election. In this election, many polls stated the Trump had almost no chance of winning the election and yet he ended up becoming president. This nonresponse bias is also only one of the many potential biases that could destroy the reliability of a survey. Many polls such as push polls as designed to try and change the opinions of the participants in the survey and by simply changing the wording of a question while keeping the meaning it could drastically impact results. Very few public opinion polls can actually be trusted by the public and yet many citizens blindly follow the results. These polls only represent an average of about 9 percent of the population and therefore do not actually show public opinion. Surveyors need to find a way to get more of the population to participate in surveys and need to ensure that the results are not crippled with bias.