Lurdan
old wave
I read that Guardian story about the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust poll and noted that the figures were unsourced. A little later I read the discussion of the poll on this thread and found myself frowning a little. I guess that what I am about to say may appear to be a fairly minor point, and I've debated with myself about posting it, but given what this thread is about I think it's relevant to say it.
Looking at the HMDT trust website I see that they also issued a press release about the results of a survey last year. Evidently it's a regular part of their annual activities. No details were given about the methodology used or questions asked in conducting that survey either. Last years press release began
Why then should I look askance at the discussion of this press release above ? Isn't this exactly how opinion polls are routinely questioned on other politics threads ?
Holocaust denial is founded on people deliberately blurring the distinctions between challenging propaganda and challenging the historical record. Refuting it commonly leads into very convoluted arguments disentangling the different threads of nonsense and dishonesty. As a result if I was questioning the validity of claims about attitudes to the holocaust I would want to make it perfectly clear what questions I was asking (in this case, for example, was I challenging the methodology of a particular survey, or the use to which its results were put). And I would want to make it reasonably clear why I was asking those questions. I don't consider it acceptable that other people should be expected to simply make assumptions about whether I am asking my questions in good faith or whether my reasons for asking them were acceptable.
As it happens I don't have any "dark suspicions" at all about the discussion of this poll, taken as a whole or any individual contributions, but in my opinion that is neither here nor there. It is indeed exactly like other such discussions here at Urban. That is my point. Discussions about opinion polls on other threads not infrequently act as a proxy for political discussions people don't wish to conduct directly. However, as those discussions regularly exemplify, raising questions and "just asking questions" are not the same thing. Frankly, if there is one thread where leaving ambiguity about that distinction is inappropriate, in my opinion it is one intended to challenge and refute holocaust denial.
Looking at the HMDT trust website I see that they also issued a press release about the results of a survey last year. Evidently it's a regular part of their annual activities. No details were given about the methodology used or questions asked in conducting that survey either. Last years press release began
whereas this years begins
It is of course very stupid to claim you are 'releasing research' when all you appear to be doing is citing a couple of survey results without any detail. And giving no detail means there is no basis on which to draw any conclusions about the 'meaning' of those results.
Why then should I look askance at the discussion of this press release above ? Isn't this exactly how opinion polls are routinely questioned on other politics threads ?
Holocaust denial is founded on people deliberately blurring the distinctions between challenging propaganda and challenging the historical record. Refuting it commonly leads into very convoluted arguments disentangling the different threads of nonsense and dishonesty. As a result if I was questioning the validity of claims about attitudes to the holocaust I would want to make it perfectly clear what questions I was asking (in this case, for example, was I challenging the methodology of a particular survey, or the use to which its results were put). And I would want to make it reasonably clear why I was asking those questions. I don't consider it acceptable that other people should be expected to simply make assumptions about whether I am asking my questions in good faith or whether my reasons for asking them were acceptable.
As it happens I don't have any "dark suspicions" at all about the discussion of this poll, taken as a whole or any individual contributions, but in my opinion that is neither here nor there. It is indeed exactly like other such discussions here at Urban. That is my point. Discussions about opinion polls on other threads not infrequently act as a proxy for political discussions people don't wish to conduct directly. However, as those discussions regularly exemplify, raising questions and "just asking questions" are not the same thing. Frankly, if there is one thread where leaving ambiguity about that distinction is inappropriate, in my opinion it is one intended to challenge and refute holocaust denial.
