The Polling Problem: Yphtach Lelkes on Why Political Polls Can Be Misleading

In recent years, we've seen a trend toward probabilistic political polls that tell us the percentage chance that a candidate will win the election. As happened with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in 2016, often these numbers show a strong likelihood that one candidate will win, despite the actual percentages of voters being quite close. Annenberg School for Communication Assistant Professor Yphtach Lelkes breaks down this polling problem, and explains why this type of misleading polling leads to political hobbyism and can even swing the results of an election.

[@ViewtifulJosh388]

My question is: why do they show polls that don't add up to 100%?

[@mesocorny4366]

I’m watching cable shows this morning and I decided to stop watching bc pundits crazy reliance on polling drives me nuts as someone who’s worked in mktg research, look you can only trust polls so much bc (1) quality of sample and (2) they don’t really bother to ask how well voters understand/connect/familiar w/ the different issues - in other words say for example you ask who do you trust more on foreign policy but you also ask how important is foreign policy and if the answer is not much then you can’t put so much weight on that other question

[@bestrong9873]

Good video!

[@sachin1st555]

Whatever TRUMP 2020...