For Americans just tuning in to the fever dream of election season, the past week has been a confusing swirl of conflicting poll results. …
At this time of year, the difference between poll results can be explained by everything from who is being surveyed (are they “likely” voters or just “registered”) to how many cell phone users (who are generally younger and from more diverse backgrounds) are contacted to how the questions are worded.
And while top pollsters try to adhere to common standards and best practices, there is a lot of room for interpretation in the way each constructs their universe of respondents. [cont.]
Joe Garofoli, San Francisco Chronicle