Another matter that has not been mentioned is that anonymous polls are generally recognized as being more accurate than public ones.
I'll start by giving some other examples where this is so (Eschwartz, as these examples are not this poll you can omit this first bit because you will not see the relevance
).
I mentioned the likes of clubs and unions before. If one has any experience of hand raising public polls in these and other places, such as the workplace, one can see the effect on voting behavior very easily, just by the way people look around with uncertainty on their faces, not wanting to find themselves to be with a significant minority. Many people tend to hope to vote with the majority (or abstain if they are stronger in their views but don't want to be too much with the minority) because it is more comfortable to do so. In an poll having anonymity this effect is much less likely to happen.
The effect also exists when employees are questioned in an exercise seeking views, even when alone with the questioner, especially if it is an organizational or behavioral related question rather than a technical one. The employee will often just give the response which is most comfortable with respect to how they wish to be perceived as a person or to avoid confrontation rather than state what they really think. Any manager worth his salt knows that the answers an employee gives in such situations may not be what the employee really thinks and becomes attuned to the body language, etc. which signals that, and understands the trust needed to get openness.
Witness statements are another area where there is non-anonymity and are well known to be skewed because of that (but not that alone).
So, if one accepts that voting and seeking of views in an non anonymous situation colors the responses one gets, then what about these book polls?
My view is, and I have conducted business type surveys and many, many interviews, particularly associated with organizational change (and remuneration where it is well known that people often exaggerate remuneration 'cos it makes them more comfortable if they do so), that the poll will be skewed. By how much I do not know but we have already seen some stating they will not vote if it is public and I would bet my cats
on the fact that there will be many others who will not vote but have not said so, because to say so will submit them to the discomfort of being disagreed with (or for some other reason). So the poll is already skewed towards representing the views of one particular group.
So what might happen in these polls? Taking the second decade of books I might like to vote for Proust's 'In Search of Lost Time', say, but decide to vote for 'The Thirty-nine Steps' my second choice, say, because I don't really want to come across as a "literary snob". In fact I have already had a snide comment along those lines aimed at me in these forums, so I might, say, feel inclined to vote in a way that softens that perspective.
Or, I may wish to vote for 'Sons and Lovers' but decide that I do not wish to be publically associated with erotica (albeit mild) and so vote for my second, or even my third choice should my second choice have been Proust. Etc., etc.
I am sure there will be other behaviors which will modify how some, perhaps many, people vote.
I know that in polls and similar situations, that if I reflect honestly on my motivations I find them to be towards being skewed, and I know from working with many others that behavior is commonplace (maybe universal if subconscious motivation is included). So, hands up those here who for reasons of their own comfort, or for the comfort of those asking the question, whether in a public poll or not (e.g. the workplace), have given a response to that question that does not truly represent their view on the matter. No lying now
.