The trouble with Trump's Center for Security Policy Poll

[jzd19]

The poll that Trump cites to support his temporary Muslim immigration prohibition appears to be pretty flawed. It's an opt-in survey which means the respondents were not randomly selected, they were self-selected volunteers. It is reportedly difficult to extrapolate broader conclusions from opt-in online surveys.

 

I myself am sympathetic to a moratorium on Muslim immigration (although I am more sympathetic to dismantling the welfare state), but it does not help Trump's cause to use shaky data like this.

 

Any thoughts?

 

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/dec/09/donald-trump/trump-cites-shaky-survey-call-ban-muslims-entering/

 

http://www.aapor.org/AAPORKentico/Education-Resources/For-Researchers/Poll-Survey-FAQ/Opt-In-Surveys-and-Margin-of-Error.aspx