Admittedly it can be quite fun to think, talk about and speculate upon those who, as a nation, we like to think - or imagine - we trust the most. But without wishing to rain on the Reader's Digest parade, to elevate a survey of , ahem, eccentric methodology to anything other than a diverting pastime is at best a stretch.
Sure, we can look at the list and wonder at the people and places on it; but we should not assume it actually means anything.
And, really, to try to mine sociological trends, moods, or attitudes from such an arbitrary poll is a pointless exercise, rather like building a castle on foundations of sand - which is why I have some difficulties with interpreting the results as shining "a revealing light on the mood and mindset of a nation".
The survey was conducted for Reader's Digest by McCrindle Research. It was collated by polling 735 adults and asking them to rank 100 people on a scale of one to 10 according to their perceived trustworthiness. The 100 people were selected by taking last year's list and combining that with the most mentioned New Zealanders over the last year.
In being asked to rank the candidates, survey participants were first asked whether they knew the person well enough to judge their trustworthiness - and if the answer was "no" their opinion was not counted in the final average, the New Zealand Herald reported yesterday.
How can there be even a modicum of consistency in a condition such as that?
What could the openly and endlessly subjective clause knowing "the person well enough to judge their trustworthiness" possibly mean in terms of the generation of definable, repeatable data on which to conduct a ranking operation?
And determining trustworthiness as a distantly observed function of "fame", "occupation" or a combination of both, surely has more holes in it than your average kitchen colander.
While 97% voted on John Key - who came in at a lowly 90th place - only 34% contributed to the ranking of this year's overall most trusted New Zealander, Sir Ray Avery.
To those for whom the name Sir Ray Avery rings a bell, he is described on the list as "scientist, inventor, New Zealander of the year, 2010". I don't know him from Adam, but I've heard him interviewed the odd time, read an article or two about him, he's a "Sir" and on the basis some organisation or other has named him New Zealander of the Year, well he must be trustworthy, mustn't he?
A dead cert - but then I'd be one of that 34% or so of the sample who has actually heard of him.
Same thing goes for No 2 on the list, Sir Peter Gluckman, chief science adviser to the Prime Minister.
Another "Sir" and he's not about to make things up either. I've heard of him, too. Then at No 3 we have Sir Paul Callaghan, physicist, New Zealander of the Year 2011. Same applies. How could you doubt him - provided you recognise the name and have appreciated his thoughtful and elucidating scientific humanism on Kim Hill's Saturday Morning.
Great choices, impeccable credentials, integrity to burn, but hardly prime time TV celebrities or national sporting icons.
The point is that those who do "know" such candidates will rate them very highly and their overall ranking will be highly skewed.
Helen Winkelmann? Who? Winklemann. Chief High Court Judge. Can't go past that for integrity, can you? (Unless of course you were to include on your list Dame Sian Elias, Chief Justice and presiding judge of the Supreme Court; or Justice Mark O'Regan, president of the Court of Appeal, both higher bodies than the High Court, and accordingly - in this trite world of instantly assumed values - surely possessed of a more elevated brand of "trustworthiness". I'm not for a moment meaning to impugn his integrity, but Roger Hall at No 5?
Great playwright and guaranteed for a laugh in the theatre.
But wait, there's more: Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement, of Flight of the Conchords, come in at Nos 6 and 8 respectively, sandwiching that great New Zealand fashion icon Denise L'Estrange-Corbet.
Oh, and at No 9, now we're really hitting our straps - much more like it - Simon Gault, celebrity chef: would you trust this man to boil an egg? Altogether now, of course we would.
As for Jay-Jay Feeney, morning radio host for the Edge FM, I'm sure she's a delightful person, honest as the day is long, et cetera, but the 13th most trusted person in New Zealand?
Give me a break.
- Simon Cunliffe is deputy editor (news) at the Otago Daily Times.
