Can We Trust What the Polls Tell Us? (2623)

Polls have come in for their fair share of discussion, especially in election years. Are they accurate, biased, fake news!?

Polls are a measurement tool that tell us what percent of a population has a specific viewpoint; how they think and feel about any given topic.

In election years, one of the most prominent applications of survey research is election polling. In election years, much of the polling by Pew Research Center focuses on people’s issue preferences, engagement in the election, opinions about the candidates, views of the campaign and voter preferences. 

Yet as we have seen in past election years, what the polls may show, may not in fact be the outcome.

Joining hosts, Dennis McCuistion and Jim Falk are experts in the polling and sampling field,

(top left to bottom right) Jim Falk, Dennis McCuistion, Lynne Stokes, and Scott Keeter discuss polls on The McCuistion Program.

Professor Lynne Stokes, PhD, Department of Statistical Science, Southern Methodist University and Director of the Data Science Institute, and

Scott Keeter, Senior Survey Advisor, Pew Research Center, past president of the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR).

Our experts talk about what goes into sound polling and how polling has become the wild west, with a low bar of entrance.

So how can we determine a “good” poll from a” bad” one? What can we believe and how accurate are polls?

Tune in to learn more about how polling works and what you can and cannot believe.