Scientific American writes:
As a profile of Judith Curry in the November 2010 issue of Scientific American makes clear, the University of Georgia climate scientist has become an increasingly polarizing figure IN the past year or so.
…
Yet Curry herself is convinced that some of those facts are seriously exaggerated, and that the IPCC has failed to acknowledge the real uncertainty in the science.
…
She’s been denounced, sometimes vehemently, for her efforts.
So here’s the central question: Is Curry a heroic whistle-blower, speaking the truth when others can’t or won’t?
…
Let us know what you think.
Here’s the link to the poll:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=taking-the-temperature-climate-chan-2010-10-25
h/t to Joe Romm
NOTE: I should add that this poll is rather poorly designed. On that, Mr. Romm and I agree. Bear in mind that many of the questions are multiple choice, and more than one answer can be selected. You can also skip questions that you feel don’t offer a representation of your view. – Anthony
UPDATE: If readers would like to offer some alternative suggestions for question sets in comments, I’ll be happy to setup and run a comparison poll here. – Anthony
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I tried to take the poll last night so after entering my results I had to register. I never received confirmation from Scientific American so my answers were not tabulated. I attempted to re register but the link kept coming up not to the poll but the results. Are skeptics being kept (blocked) from having their answers counted???
‘Course it is a bad poll from a bad rag. What else would you expect?
Scarlet Pumpernickel is right about the results from the poll: more of “us”
than of “them” responding! Wonder if SA will take the hint?
Matt, I think you may be on to something. We should bookmark your statement and watch for a future statement about how skeptics believe that science is irrelevant. Classic progressivism at work.
I did not check all the comments because there were so many. This may be a duplication but Dr. Curry teaches at Georgia Tech not the University of Georgia. We Techies are very proud of Judith and want her home to be listed correctly.
Lemmonick,
If you are going to write bad surveys, you must learn from the master… and the master is… the person who writes survey questions for the ATM transaction screens at K-mart.
My favorite is this one that requires a yes or no answer: (also known as the two part question)
The K-mart screen asked:
Did you know that Craftsman makes tools, the best in the world?
And you must answer yes or no to continue with your transaction.
If you answer yes, it is as if you are answering yes to the second question as well admitting that their tools are the best in the world whether you agree to that or not.
If you answer no, you are not admitting that their tools are not the best, you are admitting that you just did not know that they are the best. And now you do know.
If you are talking to a live person the way out of this is to say, WHEN did K-mart start insisting on asking survey questions at every transaction? As asking the question WHEN admits nothing.
However, this is a machine. You must answer yes or no to continue with your transaction. If you complain, the clerk, a high school student just rolls his eyes and pushes yes or no for you. The people who wrote this are sitting behind a two way mirror watching and laughing each time.
And to think, when I was in chemistry class, I used to write my lab reports as if I was writing for Scientific American hoping that some day I would be good enough to actually get published there. HA HA HA HA HA HA I guess I didn’t actually have to be good, or smart, or have a lucky breakthrough or insight. I just need to be on the right side of the political argument of the day.
No surprise here. The SA has been corrupt for years, and it’s bias is well known.
Check out SA’s disgusting treatment of Bjorn Lomborg. ( The Sceptical Enviromentalist.)
The idea that SA is anything but a AGW proponent masquarading as a science rag is laughable.
I’ve seen more factual articles in The National Enquirer.
I thoughtthe questions were awaful and leading— I didnt complete the poll.
I am skeptical— but not sure— with the right proof i could change my mind, so to me scientist such as Dr Curry, who try and address real issues/ problems are fantastic.
People like Dr Curry / Anthony Watts are what we need , they tell it like it is.
Cheers Dr Curry— I’m not sure if your right but I will listen to you.
“You can also skip questions that you feel don’t offer a representation of your view. – Anthony”
Nope! I tried and it was not possible. All questions must be answered.
The results are a scream!
Very loaded questions. I answered them to the best of my ability and then looked at the results. I strongly suspect that they will have to run this through a carefully constructed computer model in order to obtain the results they want, because I’m sure that’s not what they’ve got at the moment. Perhaps Michael Mann could give them some advice. Then again, they might just disappear it.
4150 people have answered, allegedly, with 8 people skipping every question. Top answers at the moment:
1. Should climate scientists discuss scientific uncertainty in mainstream forums?
Yes, it would help engage the citizenry. 89.9%
2. Judith Curry is:
a peacemaker. 71.4%
3. What is causing climate change?
natural processes 76.7%
4. The IPCC, or Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is:
a corrupt organization, prone to groupthink, with a political agenda. 81.7%
5. What should we do about climate change?
Nothing, we are powerless to stop it. 65.8%
6. What is “climate sensitivity”?
an unknown variable that climate scientists still do not understand 51.4%
7. Which policy options do you support?
keeping science out of the political process 65.5%
8. How much would you be willing to pay to forestall the risk of catastrophic climate change?
nothing 76.9%
@Bob and all the others who pointed out that Judith Curry is a Professor at GA Tech, do be aware that Lemonick got it right in his article about her, and for some reason got it wrong on this poll.
That is even dumber than dumb.
And the comments on the poll are running WAY in favor of “WOW, this is a really biased Poll!”
***
In politics, a poll like that is known as a “push poll,” one with questions worded to steer the poll taker’s answers and arrive at a preconceived result.
You people are a bunch of fish for participating in such an obvious piece of claptrap.
How can you possibly feel guilty about anything?
Shame on you!
Has anyone noticed that some of the response percentages add up to more than 100%? A little scary coming from a “science” magazine.
Badly designed polls are very common.
http://www.aapor.org/Home.htm covers several factors, including that self-selection is not good and phone directories omit many people so even supposedly random selection can lead to skewed results.
Here is my article for a professional newsletter:
Whoops, sorry, chevrons don’t work in this software.
“Are opinion surveys accurate?
Definitely not if respondents self-select, which doesn’t ensure a representative cross-section of people. That’s the cheap approach, prone to badly skewed responses. (An apparent match of results between self-selection and proper surveys has been offered as justification – but coincidence is not a valid method of knowledge.)
Professional pollsters try to get a representative cross-section. But some people are always busy, others don’t answer unsolicited calls, and many have unlisted phone numbers (especially cellular telephones). Thus particular demographic groups are not represented.
Essential questions must be included, and phrased well. If a choice of solutions is offered it must cover all possibilities, not just the author’s knowledge. Professional surveys may ask a key question different ways at different times, adding to length.
Some organizations quote only results supporting their socio-economic beliefs, and “journalists” uncritically publish their press releases. Advocacy organizations and individuals abound, all inferring they know truth because they are incorporated or have a degree, or have a name or title that sounds impressive – that’s going on appearances, not reality.
Of course in our society we have a formal survey called “voting”, considered essential to “democracy”. But the respondents are self-selecting – you aren’t forced to vote, and the candidates are self-selected.
And there is the survey done every time you spend your hard-earned money – that’s called the marketplace, where theory meets reality (when you think thrice about spending, facing choice on what and where with your limited funds, you tend to think better).
Keith Sketchley, P.Eng.”