How can you rejoice over a survey that lacks methodology – Lecturer quizzes NPP
A Professor from the University of Ghana Business School, Kobby Mensah, has raised concerns regarding the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) celebration of survey results devoid of a clear methodology.
Speaking on TV3 he expressed bewilderment at the current criticism of the methodology employed in the recent Global InfoAnalytics Poll, which places the National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama, ahead of the NPP’s torchbearer, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
Professor Mensah highlighted that the methodology and questionnaire of the aforementioned poll were made public for clarity, thus questioning the basis of the concerns being raised.
According to the poll results, John Mahama garnered 54.3 percent support, while Dr. Bawumia secured 34.6 percent. Alan Kyerematen, leader of the Movement for Change, received 7.5 percent, and Nana Kwame Bediako of the New Force polled 2.3 percent.
In response to the poll, the Director of Communications for the NPP, Richard Ahiagbah, expressed reservations about the methodology used.
Professor Mensah argued, “The value that we place on the outcome of this survey cannot be inclusive to the people of this country because the instrument itself can create problems due to people’s understanding of the questions asked.
“So therefore the answers they are giving, as to whether or not they are answering the question about the country moving in the right direction (which is relative when you translate into another language) is the issue.
“For me, the premium we should put on this should not be too high,” he said on Friday, April 5.
He recalled instances when polls with undisclosed methodologies were endorsed by prominent NPP members and media houses, contrasting them with the current poll that has openly published its methodology and questionnaire.
“We were in this country when very suspicious polls had been published by a certain name of an international organization that did not even publish the methodology, we had prominent members of the NPP going around touting that particular results.
“We had media houses actually reporting that particular results and now you have a poll that has published its methodology for everybody to read and even published the questionnaire.
“It is very difficult to understand what they mean by the methodology is not rigors.”
tigpost.co
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