JOINT MEDIA RELEASE
DigiPoll Ltd
Exceltium Ltd
Friday 11 July 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Firms Reject Criticism Of Emissions Trading Poll
New Zealand's most accurate polling company, DigiPoll Ltd, and Auckland public relations company, Exceltium Ltd, have
rejected criticisms of their public opinion survey of New Zealanders' attitudes towards the proposed Emissions Trading
Scheme (ETS).
"This was a rigorous, scientific survey of public opinion. Any suggestions it is in any way similar to 'push polling' or
that it is 'skewed' are malicious, grossly defamatory and politically-motivated," DigiPoll director Dr Gabriel Dekel and
Exceltium managing director Matthew Hooton said today.
"The survey questionnaire meets every test for objectivity and neutrality, and was developed by Exceltium, DigiPoll and
other advisors.
"The polling itself was conducted using DigiPoll's country-wide random-digit-dialling sample and telephone-interview
process which was originally developed at the University of Waikato in 1995 and which has accurately predicted the
results of several general elections. DigiPoll and another polling company were also the only pre-election pollsters to
consistently show Labour at a distinct advantage to National before the last national election.
"To ensure the final sample accurately reflected the general population in terms of gender, geography, income level and
voting intention, we weighted the sample according to the data from the last census and other publicly-available data.
"The questionnaire, sample size and margins of error for the different survey populations have all been made available
in the interests of transparency.
"DigiPoll holds IQS (Interviewing Quality Standards - body of the Market Research Society of New Zealand) accreditation
and the data was vigorously checked and audited.
"The survey results should be of interest to the public, media and policy-makers, and should be taken seriously by them,
and it is of concern that some policy-makers have instead opted to defame us and our companies," Dr Dekel and Mr Hooton
said.
ENDS