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We Gave Four Good Pollsters the Same Raw Data. They Had Four Different Results.
NY Times ^ | SEPT. 20, 2016 | NATE COHN

Posted on 11/05/2018 9:57:14 AM PST by SpeedyInTexas

You’ve heard of the “margin of error” in polling. Just about every article on a new poll dutifully notes that the margin of error due to sampling is plus or minus three or four percentage points.

But in truth, the “margin of sampling error” – basically, the chance that polling different people would have produced a different result – doesn't even come close to capturing the potential for error in surveys.

Polling results rely as much on the judgments of pollsters as on the science of survey methodology. Two good pollsters, both looking at the same underlying data, could come up with two very different results.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: New York
KEYWORDS: dnctalkingpoint; dnctalkingpoints; natecohn; newyork; newyorkcity; newyorkslimes; newyorktimes; polling; polls; sciencetrust; waronerror; yellowjournalism; zogbyism; zogsmagicsauce
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An oldie, but goodie.

Results varied by 5 points between pollsters reviewing the same raw data.

Tomorrow some pollsters will be eating crow. And crow "is a dish best served cold".

1 posted on 11/05/2018 9:57:14 AM PST by SpeedyInTexas
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To: Ravi

I’m sure you remember this article.


2 posted on 11/05/2018 9:57:41 AM PST by SpeedyInTexas (Localization, not Globalization)
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To: SpeedyInTexas; Gamecock; SaveFerris

I gave four Italian pollsters the same data and got five different opinions.

I know that’s more of a Jewish joke but I’d have to convert before I could use it.


3 posted on 11/05/2018 10:03:40 AM PST by Larry Lucido
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To: SpeedyInTexas

I gave four Freepers the same post and got four different replies.


4 posted on 11/05/2018 10:05:32 AM PST by monkeyshine
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To: SpeedyInTexas
crow "is a dish best served cold".

May they choke on the feathers.

5 posted on 11/05/2018 10:07:09 AM PST by NautiNurse (Two-door Ford suffered unrepairable damage after a head-on collision with facts & truth.)
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To: SpeedyInTexas

Do not hang your hat on polls


6 posted on 11/05/2018 10:09:01 AM PST by Nifster (I see puppy dogs in the clouds)
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To: SpeedyInTexas

Actually a good article for Pravda West


7 posted on 11/05/2018 10:11:28 AM PST by ZULU (Jeff Sessions should be tried for sedition.)
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To: NautiNurse

Excellent!


8 posted on 11/05/2018 10:18:04 AM PST by Ravi
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To: SpeedyInTexas
You got to wonder if this is really CYA at the NYSlimes?
9 posted on 11/05/2018 10:26:08 AM PST by Robert357 ( Dan Rather was discharged as "medically unfit" on May 11, 1954.)
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To: SpeedyInTexas

Yep definitely do...


10 posted on 11/05/2018 10:26:58 AM PST by Ravi
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To: SpeedyInTexas

...and Trump won Florida by 1.2%


11 posted on 11/05/2018 10:40:06 AM PST by Bulwinkle (Alec, a.k.a. Daffy Duck)
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To: Nifster

Amen. The game ain’t over. Vote!


12 posted on 11/05/2018 10:46:07 AM PST by BradyLS (DO NOT FEED THE BEARS!)
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To: SpeedyInTexas

sounds like hurricane computers.

Feed the same raw data into 31 computers and they spit out 31 different hurricane tracks. And we are supposed to have confidence in computers to make life and death decisions??


13 posted on 11/05/2018 10:58:12 AM PST by elpadre (AfganistaMr Obama said theoal was to "disrupt, dismantle and defeat al-hereQaeda" and its allies.)
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To: SpeedyInTexas

This is true if you believe they don’t manipulate the data or flat out manufacture the numbers, which I do not. What assurance is there, other than “their reputation”? Gimme a break, the only people who care about polls are those paying for them. And they are not interested in accuracy or objectivity.


14 posted on 11/05/2018 11:04:39 AM PST by bigbob (Trust Sessions. Trust the Plan.)
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To: SpeedyInTexas
The best way is to do a two question poll.

Are you planing to vote?

Who for?

Thank you for your time.

Call 2000 people per state.

You will get the best and most truthful data.

15 posted on 11/05/2018 11:05:50 AM PST by Harmless Teddy Bear (Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there's injustice, and somewhere else the tea is getting cold.)
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To: SpeedyInTexas

Analysts is all about the assumption.


16 posted on 11/05/2018 11:09:38 AM PST by gov_bean_ counter (Ruth Bader Ginsburg doctor is a taxidermist.)
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To: gov_bean_ counter

Analysis, rather.


17 posted on 11/05/2018 11:10:44 AM PST by gov_bean_ counter (Ruth Bader Ginsburg doctor is a taxidermist.)
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To: Larry Lucido

How many Poles does it take to screw up a poll?


18 posted on 11/05/2018 11:14:01 AM PST by Migraine
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To: SpeedyInTexas

ALL “scientific” forecasting (including weather/climate modeling, election or economic predictions, etc) includes unverifiable assumptions by the “scientists.” These assumptions include voter turnout predictions, consumer buying predictions, effect of CO2 on climate, etc. These assumptions often can be influenced by political ideology, availability of grant money, and other factors. That is why there have been 14 different climate change models and NONE of them have accurately predicted the weather during the past decade.


19 posted on 11/05/2018 11:21:44 AM PST by DeweyCA
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To: SpeedyInTexas

The secret to selling $ucce$$ful polling to a customer is $imple. Find out what an$wer he wants and give it to him. If it turns out wrong blame the respondents or something else. Promise to do better next time.


20 posted on 11/05/2018 11:46:30 AM PST by Don Corleone (Nothing makes the delusional more furious than truth.)
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