Americans love polls. Except when they don’t say what they want them to say. Donald Trump could not tout his poll numbers enough when he was winning the surveys and the votes in the primaries and then early on in the election cycle when they showed him with a lead over Hillary Clinton. Now, as […]
Polling
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Gallup chief clarifies horse race polling decision
POLITICO REPORTED Wednesday morning that Gallup will not track the so-called “horse race” in this year’s presidential primary, and would not commit to doing so in the general election. The shift in focus was a shock to political and industry observers as the Gallup name is nearly synonymous with horse race polling. Indeed, Gallup has […]
Posted inPolitics
Polling standards changing rapidly
THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION of Public Opinion Research is a rather staid institution. Its annual conference is four days of panel discussions on complex statistical problems in the field. (Sample conference T-shirt slogan: “The Weighting is the Hardest Part.”) Many association members are researchers and statisticians who conduct important government surveys such as the US Census, […]