Our neighbourhood poll says 75% support a street closure. Can we call that local support?
Politics"Three quarters of the neighbourhood want it," our residents' group chair wrote above the chart. I helped make that chart, and now I'm uncomfortable with the caption.
We posted a yes-or-no poll in a neighbourhood chat about closing one street to cars on Saturdays. Of the 280 chat accounts, 84 voted: 63 yes and 21 no. The link was also forwarded to a cycling group. We didn't check whether voters lived on the street, and people who weren't in either group wouldn't have seen it.
The chair wants to attach the chart to a letter asking the council for a trial. She says the result is better than ten people arguing at a meeting. I agree that the responses shouldn't be thrown away. But "75% of respondents to our chat poll" and "75% of the neighbourhood" sound like different claims.
A shop owner has asked whether the poll offered a shorter closure or a delivery window. It didn't. Changing the question now could look as though we're trying to undo a result we dislike.
How should I repair the caption and explain the limits without dismissing the people who answered? Is the honest next step to submit the poll as feedback, ask a better question, or keep it out of the council letter?
The poll, figures and proposals are fictional.