In January 2012, Reuters embarked on a polling project that flipped mainstream polling on its head. Instead of using telephones to gather results on a semi-regular basis, we partnered with the research firm Ipsos and opted to reach a huge number of mostly pre-screened respondents online. The result is that […] Read more »
Methodology Should be Methodology, whether a Public Poll or an Academic Survey
It’s no secret that academic survey researchers and public pollsters have very different goals for their work. Public pollsters are gathering data to quickly measure the current environment and find out who thinks what. In contrast, academic researchers ponder why the environment is what it is, and what the implications […] Read more »
Silver’s switch may not succeed
Nate Silver’s move to the ESPN mother ship may be the best thing for all concerned. … I started pondering this many years ago, probably before [Nate] Silver was born, about the marketability of polls, the kind that Silver enjoys bundling. I wanted to be able to syndicate poll results […] Read more »
Nate Silver Went Against the Grain for Some at The Times
Why did Nate Silver decide to leave The New York Times and accept an offer from ESPN? That’s the cause of great speculation in media circles at the moment. As has been noted elsewhere, there’s no question that The Times made a big pitch to keep him and that the […] Read more »
Nate Silver Joins ESPN in Multi-Faceted Role
Leading statistician and best-selling author Nate Silver will join ESPN later this year, bringing his unique brand of creativity, journalism and statistical analysis through his award winning website, FiveThirtyEight.com. The site’s new incarnation will allow Silver to return to his sports roots while expanding his approach to numerous disciplines, including […] Read more »
Quest for Silver: How ESPN/ABC stole Nate Silver from The New York Times
The battle for data whiz Nate Silver, fought secretly and aggressively by several of the nation’s top news executives for the better part of a year, was won by ESPN and ABC News (both part of The Walt Disney Company) after the 35-year-old was promised extensive air time, a role […] Read more »