Tag Archives: accuracy

Can media be trusted to accurately report polls?

Reassurances from pollsters on the accuracy of results are suspect due to an obvious conflict of interest.  They’re marketing their product. The press also has a conflict of interest.  Media organizations often commission these polls.  Can you remember the last … Continue reading

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Do Polls Work?

In an article posted on June 17, 2011 on the iPolitics website, Frank Graves, head of the polling firm EKOS , attempted to explain why his final poll failed so badly in predicting the Conservative majority in the 2011 Federal … Continue reading

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How Polls Influenced the Outcome of the 2011 Canadian Federal Election

Canadians gave Stephen Harper’s Conservatives a majority government in possibly the strangest election in Canadian electoral history.  Conservatives ended up with 167 seats, 24 more than before, while both Liberals and Bloc Québecois were demolished with their respective leaders, Michael … Continue reading

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Polls and Pat Downs: Questionable Results and Misguided Narratives

An ABC news/Washington Post poll recently reported that two of every three Americans (64%) supported the use of full body x-ray scanners. The same poll also found that half of all Americans (50%) said that “enhanced” pat downs were justified … Continue reading

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