Strength in Numbers: How Polls Work and Why We Need Them by G. Elliott Morris

Author:G. Elliott Morris [Morris, G. Elliott]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: American Government, Political Science, Political Process, General, Political Ideologies, Epub3, Democracy, Public Opinion Polling, Campaigns & Elections
ISBN: 9780393866988
Google: nP5KEAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Norton
Published: 2022-07-12T21:33:58+00:00

THE BABY IN THE BATHWATER

While good polling is an expression of public opinion and a force for good in capturing the will of the demos, hope and optimism will not keep unreliable or politically motivated pollsters at bay. To avoid contaminating the information ecosystem, pollsters must enforce a culture of science and transparency in order to hold bad actors to account. Journalists and leaders have to ignore bad polls, even when it is inconvenient for them, and be honest about the scientific process that generated the data. Consumers of polls need to internalize that they are scientific, yes, but not surgically precise.

The mirror that is the public opinion poll is not just cracked; there are blemishes and other imperfections that might render reflections imprecise, too. The process of squinting past these obstacles strains our attention and muddies the peripheral context of our reality. But although the mirror does not offer up a perfect reflection, one blemish does not render the mirror useless. One or two bad polls do not make the hundreds of others any less useful. Poll-readers must be vigilant to separate the good from the bad—to find the right angle to stare into the mirror, rather than throwing it to the floor.

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