“Garbage in, garbage out” is a well-known aphorism that refers to the idea that the quality of the input determines the quality of output in any system. For example, if a mathematical equation is improperly stated, the answer is unlikely to be correct. The same applies to public opinion polling. If the questions asked come from biased researchers, are not given to a randomized sample of the larger population, or exceed the knowledge level of the survey participants, the results are likely to be incorrect.
