How trustworthy is Reader’s Digest’s “most trusted” list?

Yesterday Reader’s Digest released its annual list of most trusted people in New Zealand and the list got many people talking because of its surprising results: “Scientists topple sportspeople in ‘most trusted’” said the NZ Herald headline.

Today the NZ Herald followed up with a story on whether the survey itself could be deemed trustworthy. Professor David Scott from our department was ask to comment on the methodology and the not-so-obvious change in methodology compared with previous years and how that could influence the results.

The Reader’s Digest also puts out other “most trusted” lists and a complaint about the methodology was taken to the Press Council in 2004 by Variety Club but it was not upheld. The ruling points out that these polls are more about “which was more popular than statistically scientific”.