January 07, 2007

SI's bogus poll

The Sports Illustrated Poll on Mascots

7 comments:

writerfella said...

Writerfella here --
B.J. Boyd needs to know there is no such infinitive as, 'to legitimate'. There is 'to legitimize', however. And no pollster ever is going to reveal their methodologies for the simple reason that it is regarded as 'intellectual property' and likely copyrighted, at that. That doesn't mean their poll is less or more worthy; it simply means that asking after such always will be ignored.
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'

Rob said...

You're wrong that no one publishes their polling methodology. Many of them tell the basics, as the following article explains:

http://polipundit.com/index.php?p=4176

I discovered that in terms of methodology, we can separate the polls into three broad types--the polls which provide demographic internal data, the polls whose questions show mood in the main issues, and those polls which refuse to provide internal data.

The best way to find out how the polls developed their methodologies, is to look for that information. Some publish their methodologies at the bottom of their poll releases, others are so proud of their methodologies, they wrote up special articles to explain their process. Others did not have their methodologies handy, but responded when I asked them how they did their polling. And others, well, they were neither forthcoming nor cooperative, and that speaks for itself.

Rob said...

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/legitimate

le·git·i·mate (lə-jĭt'ə-mĭt)
adj.

1. Being in compliance with the law; lawful: a legitimate business.

tr.v. (-māt') le·git·i·mat·ed, le·git·i·mat·ing, le·git·i·mates
To make legitimate, as:
a. To give legal force or status to; make lawful.

writerfella said...

Writerfella here --
writerfella did not say there was no such word as 'legitimate', he said there was no such infinitive as 'to legitimate'. In any case, 'legitimate' is an adjectival and not either a noun or a verb.
And just because someone said 'this is how we do it,' you take them at their word and walk away contented. That's what they want you to do...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'

Rob said...

I'm the one who ripped the Harris Poll's methodology to shreds. I can do it whether or not they provide the details of their methods.

I'm also the one who's criticized Mel Gibson's Apocalypto to death, in case you've forgotten. You're the one taking him at his word, not me.

If a word is a verb, it has an infinitive form by definition. E.g., The lawyer will have to legitimate his position before the judge can rule on it. I'm pretty sure there are no exceptions.

writerfella said...

Writerfella here --
But there is an exception, and it is the less than legitimate or legitimized use of the word, 'decimate', which means to reduce a population by removing (killing) 1 in 10. Somehow, comparable to your usage, that word has come to mean 'destroyed', 'devastated', or 'desolated', which it most certainly does not. Language is the common coin of communication and counterfeit usages cannot be taken to the bank.
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'

Rob said...

It's not hard to come up with a sentence using the infinitive form of "decimate." E.g., The Europeans had to decimate the Native inhabitants before they could occupy the continent. Through disease and warfare, they decimated the vast majority of these people.

Words mean what the dictionary says they mean. Whenever I define a word such as "decimate" or "legitimate," I try to quote the dictionary definition. I recommend this practice to everyone.