They say college is a learning experience, and despite many signs to the contrary, we at The State Press generally agree with that sentiment. Anyone employed by this paper will tell you that what they've learned here is easily as valuable as anything they've learned in a class at ASU.
But Wednesday's events were like waking up and realizing we forgot to study for our first exam.
On Page 2 of Wednesday's The State Press was a story about the results of an online Associated Students of ASU survey that asked students how they would feel about a tuition hike. We reported the story, complete with comment from Undergraduate Student Government President Brandon Goad, and everything was fine. Or so we thought.
Journalism professors Stephen Doig and Ed Sylvester, in an e-mail, were the first to point out our mistake. "We are disappointed to see The State Press treat as news the results of a 'poll' that is so seriously flawed," they wrote. "The results represent only the opinions of a self-selected sample."
Doig and Sylvester didn't stop there. They pointed out that many of the survey's default answers happened to be the most popular answers, indicating that many students probably didn't even answer them. And anyone with an ASURITE ID -- including faculty and staff -- can take it.
"All in all, this was a poll that didn't deserve to be reported," the professors said.
We'd like to thank Doig and Sylvester for pointing out our mistake. And to all of our readers, we offer our sincerest apologies. We made news out of something that really shouldn't have been news at all, and for that, we apologize. But there are other matters at hand.
The story says the survey is "one way for ASASU to find out how students would like their money spent." As the aforementioned reasons should make clear, it isn't, and purporting it as such is wrong.
In short, ASASU wasted plenty of students' time, and probably some of its money, in creating a survey that doesn't hold water. Its actions, to the casual observer, seem to represent the desperate measures of an organization rabidly eager to produce any shred of evidence that it represents the best interests of the students of this University. That, or a student government with no understanding of how good, accurate polling is done.
To both scenarios, we offer the following: Find a professional service to do your polling and ensure that it's done right. Stop resorting to gimmicks like Internet surveys, especially when people can fill them out halfheartedly or incorrectly.
