What explains the "unsure" or "don't know" responses in polls?

Sometimes it is ignorance – people don’t understand the issue and are unwilling or unable to make a choice.

Sometimes none of the answers reflect the actual feelings of the responder. They may have a mixed or nuanced point of view and the 3 or 4 potential answers aren’t adequate.

Sometimes the person genuinely is unsure.

“Unsure” is a legitimate answer.

I completely agree with @elbanditoroso‘s sentiments above. Further, I think there are times when folks just don’t always understand the question and “unsure” is an excellent response to that as well. Might I also include those who have not yet had an opportunity to consult with the others who do the thinking for them and really don’t know what their position is “supposed” to be (there seems to be more of the them all the time).

@kayak – don’t forget political correctness, which you sort of imply.

It just proves the high cost of tv advertising and how rich you actually have to be to influence the ignorant masses which collect weight and believe only the things they see on tv. I think it says quite a bit about society and its reflection to politics and to who is making things up.

Apathy.

While there may be some legitimate circumstances in which one might answer “unsure” or “don’t know,” I think a lot of it is moral and/or political cowardice. Some people are just too afraid to say out loud where they stand—even when the polls are anonymous—so they use the non-committal options as a way of dodging complicated issues.

Wouldn’t “unsure” be the only answer for someone who has no feelings about the question?

@Charles – I guess that’s my question. Take the example I gave. Other than the lobotomized, how you could not have an opinion on a question like this? It seems binary.

They’re undecided on the issue, or they don’t understand the question.

Ignorance of the issue and lack of contemplation. Many people never think of anything but their own day to day lives. What shall I make for dinner? Will the Cubs win today? Anything more is beyond them.

The cognitive dissonance of people that were brainwashed fighting their natural logic or vice versa. “Well, it doesn’t affect me but I still think it’s gross.” or “Well, I’m not supposed to accept them as a catholic, but it’s really not a big deal.”

You’ve never felt conflicted about an issue?

@nikipedia – I’ve been very conflicted about an issue. But some of them seem rather…easy. Actually, let me put it this way: What possible gray areas do you need to work out when asked a question about civil rights? The question I included doesn’t seem to have room for that “I’m just waiting to get more data” fence-sitting. I’ve also never met anyone who has an “unsure” attitude about it.

@tom_g, I may be stepping in hot water here because I don’t know very much about the issue, but I might have an example: Citizens United. It’s a civil rights decision that I both agree and disagree with. Agree because of the right to free speech, disagree because of the obvious and extremely negative impact it will have on politics.

Another free speech issue that it took me some time to decide on—the Danish newspaper that published blasphemous cartoons about Muhammad.

@nikipedia – I won’t step in the hot water until I refresh my memory on the CU issue. But you can see that this is not something like gay marriage that everyone over the age of 4 is fluent in, right? There are no troublesome details or anything with gay marriage. Just “Do you strongly favor, favor, oppose, or strongly oppose allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry legally?” That’s it.

But the Danish newspaper thing seems like a relatively-easy (not quite “should gays marry” or “should women be allowed to vote” easy).

Anyway, I love when people take their time and get to understand an issue before forming an opinion. But at some point if you’re still forming an opinion, there may be something else at work.

@tom_g Maybe some of these people are actually really conflicted. I know for you, it’s an easy answer, but for the guy who’s always been homophobic, except his son came out to him a couple years ago, and at first they were totally estranged, but now the son is adopting, and the man in question now has to reevaluate a life-long position, it’s not so easy.

How did they conduct the poll?
If I feel a poller is being pushy I might say “I don’t know” and walk away or hang up.

Also, I realize not everyone either a) cares or b) has an opinion on everything.

@tom_g, do you find it easy to understand the position of people who voted “strongly oppose” in the poll?

@nikipedia: ”@tom_g, do you find it easy to understand the position of people who voted “strongly oppose” in the poll?”

Yes

In that case, doesn’t it seem reasonable that the “unsure” people simultaneously believe some things from the “support” and some things from the “oppose” camp?

@nikipedia What’s your argument for not allowing cartoonists to draw Muhammad? If I may inquire.

@nikipedia: “In that case, doesn’t it seem reasonable that the “unsure” people simultaneously believe some things from the “support” and some things from the “oppose” camp?”

No…I mean that I understand the position based on my understanding of religion. I understand that if you are religious, the bible is pretty clear about this issue. So, I’m not surprised by the “oppose” positions because they are reasonable for people who are xian.

Sure there are liberal xians who ignore the bible and choose to adapt modern ideas of equality. Are you saying that the 11% of “unsure” people are in some kind of transition between religious dogma and adopting some kind of modern secular ethics? I suppose that’s possible. Maybe you’re right. I don’t know. On such an issue that doesn’t seem to require any external data, I can’t imagine what the time frame for being in that “unsure” position would be. 5 minutes? 10 minutes? Did the pollsters just catch people during that time? I find it a bit strange.

@Blackberry, I think if people want to be dicks to each other to achieve the lofty goal of being dicks to each other, newspapers should probably not give them a platform for it. One of those things that I guess has to be legal, but I sure wish people wouldn’t do it.

@tom_g, it sounds to me that you are creating a very strong dichotomy here. You don’t think there could be someone who believes in the bible wholeheartedly, but sympathizes with the desire for two people in love to be married and isn’t quite sure what to make of it?

@nikipedia Yeah, if it’s going to be in a paper, it should have some tact at least.

@nikipedia: ”@tom_g, it sounds to me that you are creating a very strong dichotomy here. You don’t think there could be someone who believes in the bible wholeheartedly, but sympathizes with the desire for two people in love to be married and isn’t quite sure what to make of it?”

Of course. The poll numbers show that 47% support gay marriage. And if ~85% of the country is Christian, then of course there are Christians who are either not familiar with their book or have chosen to ignore the parts they don’t like. I guess all I’m saying (again) is that I find it odd that I have never met one of the 11% who is in that transitional stage. And like I said, I can’t imagine it lasting more than a few minutes due to the lack of variables.

Anyway, to be honest I started this question just to keep things moving here on fluther. You’re probably right – these people exists. I’d just like to meet one some time. Also, why have I never had the opportunity to take any of these polls? I’m really curious about how they actually work.

Don’t know really.

@tom_g There are non-religious reasons for being homophobic (I meet them all the time). And, for many, the Bible isn’t so clear – it condemns gay sex (though not gay marriage explicitly, and not lesbian sex), but also has that “love thy neighbor” line.

I would guess that an “unsure” voter believes some claims from both sides of the argument and doesn’t know which to pick. Or maybe they don’t want to admit their opinions to the person asking.

@tom_g there are non-religious homophobes – my father is one of them. He believes that all homosexuals are paedophiles or sex addicts who hang around in seedy public toilets.

Sometimes the way a question is worded and the only choices given for that badly worded question do not allow for the person being polled to give an accurate answer.

Sometimes the person being polled has mixed feelings so they don’t have a simple yes or no answer. To go along with the example question you gave, some people might feel that gay marriage is fair in a democratic society, but they may have religious misgivings about it, or they might find it icky without having a logical answer for why.

And sometimes when having to choose between A or B, and you can only pick one answer, but the person being polled sees A and B as equally valid or important, then they can only say they are unsure, because picking one over the other would not be accurate.

Also, sometimes the question would need a different answer depending upon certain circumstances. In one circumstance answer A would be appropriate, and under other circumstances answser B would be appropriate, but neither A or B would be appropriate in all circumstances, and circumstances often change.