[michael_h]

> Serious question, does being unfamiliar with the term for which the survey is named taint the significance of the answers given?

Being a poll on a website taints the significance from the start. A sample size of 1000 is usually enough to get you some insight into the mind of a large population, but it has to be an accurate representative sample. A poll sponsored by HuffPo is unlikely to be a representative sample of the US.

[Symbiote]

YouGov is a reputable polling company. They're regularly used by British newspapers on all sides of politics (it was a British startup, the CEO's daughter was a friend's roommate).

The polls are sent to people registered with YouGov, who get paid a tiny amount. When I was a student it seemed worth my time, but I didn't get many polls -- probably there are lots of people in that demographic. Once I was employed I got more polls, but it wasn't worth my time.

The demographic breakdown is given in the PDF.