Tag Archives: public opinion

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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Raising the Debt Ceiling: a Nation Divided, or Is It Just the Polls?

Polls have not done a good job of communicating public opinion in the debt ceiling debate.  In fact, they made a bad situation worse. Creating the perception of a divided public The polls would have you believe that half of America … 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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