… The announcements by Fox News and CNN that they will limit the first two debates to candidates who rank in the top 10 in national polls has given the Republican Party a “Hunger Games”-type atmosphere. Facing the possibility of being excluded from the first nationally televised face-offs of the […] Read more »
Support for gun control isn’t dead, new poll shows. It just matters how you frame the question.
Two years ago, immediately after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., poll after poll showed broad support for new gun control measures. … Today, gun control seems to be on the run. Gun rights is winning the day. An oft-cited proof of this new order is […] Read more »
Polling Is Getting Harder, But It’s A Vital Check On Power
There was plenty of apprehension at the annual conference of the American Association for Public Opinion Research, which I attended last month, about the state of the polling industry. The problem is simple but daunting. The foundation of opinion research has historically been the ability to draw a random sample […] Read more »
Poll methods for presidential debates questioned
A scientifically questionable method of jamming opinion polls together could leave Ohio Gov. John Kasich on the sidelines of the first GOP presidential debate in his own state. While many already have taken issue with Fox News’ decision — backed by the national Republican Party — to take only the […] Read more »
New ‘robocall’ rules could leave Americans in the dark
For many Americans, the idea of technology that can block automated telephone calls sounds like a solution to all those annoying “robocalls” and interrupted family dinners. But to the nation’s pollsters and campaign professionals, many of whom are gearing up for the 2016 election cycle, a federal government proposal circulated […] Read more »
The Math Problem Behind Ranking The Top 10 GOP Candidates
Sixteen presidential candidates talking over each other doesn’t sound much like good TV. CNN and Fox News know this, so when they air their Republican debates later this year, they’ll both limit the field to 10 candidates. Both networks will use polling data to limit the field to only the […] Read more »