"I Don't Know" Topic

If its that pointless then why waste your time suggesting this poll ?

no opinion is always valid

They are perfectly valid answers.

Most people either don't know or don't care about most things.

If you don't think their lack of opinion matters then you can always ignore it.

If you don't give people an option of "don't know", "no opinion" or similar in an opinion poll they'll often give a false answer and your results will be affected.

Your opinion seems to be shared by many people here on TMP, but not in the professional polling field where it is considered bad practice not to give people an option to express their lack of interest in a subject.

If its that pointless then why waste your time suggesting this poll ?

It must have taken him at least 90 seconds, time he will never get bavk!
But at least he got a month's Supporting Memberships.

It is my belief that in a Poll asking for opinions on TMP policy, that the YES votes require a clear majority of 50.1%.
"No opinion" or "needs more boobies" are de facto NO votes, since they are not a YES vote.

Sometimes I don't know, I don't care or on opinion can be just as revealing about a topic. For example a large number of 'no opinions' would indicate that the topic is one that is of little interest to the majority of TMP readers, but a small number of 'no opinion' shows that the topic is one that interests of affects a large proportion of TMP readers.

""No opinion" or "needs more boobies" are de facto YES votes, since they are not a NO vote.

Works both ways… They are a blank vote and should not count toward OR against a topic

What GildasFacit said.

"but get a life, people – if you have nothing to add, don't open your mouth and let us know. "

That sums up this poll pretty well.

Yeah, why is Tahof getting so worked up over this?
--
Tim

I don't Know

In emergency medicine, these are what are considered "negative findings"--
no open wounds.
no obvious bleeding.
no apparent physical trauma.
no evidence of ETOH (that's alcohol usage/presence)

Valid information about what is not present.
Ignorance or Apathy is a valid answer to any of the Poll questions.

If the poll taker did not want them as options, could they have not so specified?

If it is specified, is it not a valid reply?

Do YOU want some whitefish?

JJ

As a general rule I only click on "I don't know" or "no opinion" when I find the poll extremely dumb and/or poorly presented. I've opened the poll, so it is my vote of derision. Kind of like a "none of the above" vote.

Occasionally, I have a valid bit of information for something that might not be in 15mm, but in my scale of 176th. It would still be valid altho a different size/scale.

Ignorance and Apathy: the twin plagues of modern society.

I'd rather have a nice Marlin steak. Whitefish, not so much…

I don't know what marlin tastes like and I don't care for whitefish. I think that covers the territory nicely.

LT

I prefer Bass myself.

They are perfectly valid responses. Asked if I prefer apples or oranges, and limited to responses of only A.apples, B.oranges, C.don't care, like many TMP polls do, I will answer C. meaning I like both equally.

Agreed … valid answers. Let's say you don't currently play fantasy, but have been thinking about it. And somebody runs a poll "Favorite tabletop fantasy minis game" you are curious to see if there is a clear winner (meaning, perhaps, easier to find opponents). How can you see the results?

The wording on that option could just as easily be "Show Me The Results". That's all you wanted anyway. People like to have fun with the options, but when all I want is to see the results, I go for any option listed that doesn't indicate a preference. That could be "No opinion" or "I don't play (whatever)" or "I don't care" or …

If some poor soul is deluded enough to base business decisions on the result of a poll he needs to factor in all those opinions.

"if you have nothing to add, don't open your mouth and let us know."

Physician, heal thyself.