h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

oops. 2, 3 or 4.

>>>> i've actually had telephone pollsters start by asking my age and then telling me i don't 'qualify' for the rest of the poll. i have to wonder how idiotic the people who commissioned the poll are.

They may not be idiotic as much as dishonest about their intent. Tele-marketers have been known to pretend to be pollsters in order to pre-screen possible clients/suckers for their product or service. For example suppose I was selling something designed for the elderly, well, I want an old person on the other end of the phone. Asking your age weeds you out if you aren't a member of my target market.

Even if the caller was conducting a poll, it might not have been a particularly honest poll. A mathematically dishonest technique is purposely skewing the statistical data by only polling certain demographics in order to make a particular politician or position look good (or bad).

You need to get the right demographic when doing a poll. Depending on what the poll's about you need to ask the tright people. No point asking a 15 year old about a stair lift as they're not the right group. But equally you can't just ask uni students about the current political elections or whatever coz they're not totally representative of the general population.

i can't even recall what the poll was about. it was market research as i recall, something about computers is bubbling into my brain. i don't usually take these calls but they offered me a reward for participating, a reward i was excluded from once they established my age.

i'm sorry, target marketing by age is idiotic. i can't think of a single instance where a product purchase is exclusively tied to age. the stair lift for example applies to people with a disability of any age. additionally, the people who PAY for the product are not always the same people who use it.

target demographics on the basis of gender...sure. i am unlikely to have a preference with regard to sanitary napkins. i'll even accept income and some other demographic separators as valid. but not age.

Well what about something like Saga magazine, or certain clothes shops??