Citizens' Group: The Polling Standards Commission

[Eklektikos]

The purpose of this group is to attempt to ensure that polling within our nation is carried out to the highest possible standard.

This will be achieved via the formulation of a set of standards which we can agree that all good polls should adhere to in terms of both design & content, then subsequent review and rating of all posted polls based on these standards - giving pointers on how to improve any weak aspects of said polls. All citizens are welcome to join the commission and propose new standards or ammendments to existing standards, as well as contributing to the discussion of others' proposals.

Agreed Standards:

Mandatory Standards for Fairness

• Poll question should be posed in an unbiased manner
• Poll options should be unbiased and easy to understand
• Running time should be stated in first post of poll

external

• Discussion thread relevant to the poll should have been up for at least 24 hours, and the discussion within brought to a conclusion prior to the posting of the poll.
• Draft poll proposal should be posted and discussed prior to the posting of the poll
• Poll should be linked to in the Poll Registry
• Poll should be linked to in relevant discussion thread

First Post

• If there is a participation requirement, it should be stated in the first post of the poll and there should be an abstain option
• First post of poll should contain link to relevant discussion thread

Procedure for Poll Reviews:

1. If a poll fails to meet the mandatory criteria, it shall be deemed unfair
2. If the poll meets only the mandatory criteria, it shall be deemed fair
3. If the poll fulfils some of the additional standards standards (1-3) it shall be deemed fair and satisfactory
4. If the poll fulfils most of the additional standards (4-6, it shall be deemed fair and good

Membership:

Almightyjosh
Bacon King
Bootstoots
CivGeneral
Cpt Kaos
Donovan Zoi
Donsig
Eklektikos (founder)
Fier Canadien
Peri
Shaitan
Stuck_As_a_Mac
Watergate

 

[Bootstoots]

I'll join this citizen group. Once we have standards, I think we should have an official poll to adopt them officially in the demogame.

 

[Eklektikos]

First items on the agenda are the creation of an initial set of standards, deciding how to organise poll reviews and the manner in which ratings should be assigned.

I'll start off with a few suggestions for standards:

• Polls should specify in the first post a participation requirement that must be achieved before the poll is considered decisive. This should not be set lower than x votes.
• Polls should specify in the first post an appoximate duration in terms of hours.
• Polls should include an "abstain" option.
• The purpose of the poll should be clearly set out in the first post, with elaborations on the options when "yes, no or abstain" format has not been used.

 

[Eklektikos]

Originally posted by bootstoots
I'll join this citizen group. Once we have standards, I think we should have an official poll to adopt them officially in the demogame.

Welcome, bootstoots

If by adopting them officially you mean including them in the actual demogame rules, I disagree. I think we would do better to encourage people to adhere to our standards by demonstrating the problems caused by weak polls via the review process, rather than attempt to legally compel them to do so. We tried the stick approach in the last game and it proved flawed, so now I recommend that we see if we can get further using the carrot.

 

[Shaitan]

Those are fine standards, EK. I would add that polls should be written in as unbiased a format as possible.

 

[donsig]

I think one of the most beneficial ideas I've seen regarding polling is writing up a proposed poll and posting it in the appropriate discussion thread prior to actually posting it as a poll. This gives citizens, especially those who feel they have a vested interest in the issue to be polled, a chance to make suggestions regarding poll format. By giving everyone a hand in forming the poll there is less chance that someone will try to shoot down the poll results by shooting down the poll itself.

 

[Shaitan]

Yes, that's another good one. It's often a victim of time pressures for in-game related things but should definitely be encouraged whenever possible. Especially things like law proposals, borders, etc, that are not time sensitive should have this step.

 

[Fier Canadien]

I'd like to join this group, as I believe that intensive polling is the key to a seamless integration of the game in a community.

I agree that posting a discussion thread before polling is a key factor, and that's why I want to make it the COP official protocol as you can see in this thread.

 

[Peri]

I would like to join too please. Excellent ideas there btw Ek.

Originally posted by Eklektikos
I'll start off with a few suggestions for standards:

• Polls should specify in the first post a participation requirement that must be achieved before the poll is considered decisive. This should not be set lower than x votes.
  list]

• 
  
  However I have concerns about this part. I dont like the idea of a minimum vote requirement. If it is deliberatley set so low that we know it will be met then it becomes unneccessary. However if it is set higher so that there is a chance it wont be met then and it is not met then we lose the benefit of the poll and those who did bother wasted their time. I am very much in favour of letting those who show up make the decisions. As I have said before it is up to everyone to vote and if they dont then they have no cause for complaint if they don't like the outcome.
  Some may argue that how can a poll be binding if only 2 people voted in it. Well it is incredibly unlikely that we will have a turnout that low but if we did then those 2 people should not be penalized because they made the effort. I cant stress enough that it is the responsibility all the citizen to participate in polling.
  
  Also I strongly reccomend that we keep this only as an advisory body and keep our reccomendations out of the rules. We need the rules to be as few as necessary.

 

[Shaitan]

Instead of a minimum participation requirement, an advertising and time standard would be better. If a poll is linked in the poll registry and is then open for an acceptable amount of time the participation in the poll should be good. Make sure that people are advised of the poll's existence and let participation happen as it may.

 

[Peri]

Originally posted by Shaitan
Instead of a minimum participation requirement, an advertising and time standard would be better. If a poll is linked in the poll registry and is then open for an acceptable amount of time the participation in the poll should be good. Make sure that people are advised of the poll's existence and let participation happen as it may.

Yes I think that is a better way to go. By advertising the poll and its duration it removes the need for a minimum voting requirement. The length of time should be as long as is practical and not uniform throughout the game.

 

[GenMarshall]

I would like to sign up for this Group .

 

[Cpt Kaos]

I would like to join to

 

[Donovan Zoi]

I will join this group as well.

In addition to posting a link in the Poll registry, we should also consider posting one in the accompanying Discussion thread. This is another way that those following the discussion can be informed of a new poll. Also, advertising in your signature could be encouraged, but not necessarily a standard.

 

[Cpt Kaos]

Originally posted by Donovan Zoi
[

In addition to posting a link in the Poll registry, we should also consider posting one in the accompanying Discussion thread. This is another way that those following the discussion can be informed of a new poll. Also, advertising in your signature could be encouraged, but not necessarily a standard. [/B]

Definitely not a standard as some signatures are already using a lot of links. just don't want the announcements getting lost

 

[Bootstoots]

We should have a 48-hour minimum time limit for polls, but no quorum, IMHO.

 

[Watergate]

The polls are vital. So the importance of this group can't be overestimated. I'd like to join and give my support.

 

[Shaitan]

Using the items presented so far we have a list of 10 points. If our impartial commission grades each poll we can easily rate them accordingly:

[b]External[/b]
1	Discussion thread up for 24+ hours and discussion complete
1	Proposed poll posted and discussed
1	Poll is linked in Poll Registry
1	Poll is linked in discussion thread

[b]Poll[/b]
1	Impartial Question
1	Impartial and easy to understand choices
1	Abstain Option is present

[b]First Post[/b]
1	Participation requirement is stated
1	Running time is stated
1	Link to discussion thread is present

A score of 9 or 10 would be endorsed as a well structured and fair poll. 6 to 8 would be marginal. We would censure any poll that rated 5 or less.

Thoughts?

EDIT: Perhaps weight some of these? Impartiality seems more important to me than mechanics such as stating the running time or minimum acceptable participation requirement.
What happens when we censure a poll? Recommend that citizens abstain?

 

[Donovan Zoi]

Woohoo! My Debate Poll got 10/10!

I don't think I would weigh any of the criteria here, but I would probably raise the bar for censure to 7/10. I can't see any adequate poll that leaves off five of these items, regardless of combination.

Regarding impartiality, we can empower anyone from the PSC(that's us....) to issue a warning for this offense, just so it is on record. If it is determined that a poll's lack of bias has encouraged a certain outcome, the PSC members can vote to overturn, or re-poll.

 

[donsig]

I think some weighting is needed. A poll with a biased question or skewed options can still rank 9 out of 10 and be a rotten poll. Including an abstain option is not all that important if there are no set quorums or standard participation levels. A 24 hours discussion thread is not always needed either (nor is it always possible). Some of our best ideas and discussions actually happen in poll threads, especially information polls. Perhaps there should be a simple approval / non-approval on the key issue of impartiality and then for those polls that are approved a rating (such as 3 out of 8 or 7 out of 8 could be given).
We have to realize that *impartial* and *easy to understand choices* are more subjective than objective. That is enough reason in and of itself seperate these criteria from the rest. Any ideas how the commission would go about determining impartiality?