On:

Opinion polls can affect the way people vote–even on Election Day. The sad thing about all this is that they are NOT accurate! When a recent post-election analysis measured the accuracy of polls leading up to midterm elections, the findings indicated not only inaccuracies from a number of polling organizations, but BIAS in their predictions. What causes these statistical slipups and polling prejudices–is it the result of bias in polling organizations or an expected reality of predictive polling? Researcher Virginia Miori is not surprised by this. She says, "Surveys and polls are known for problems with bias even in the best cases." Miori describes polling as a delicate science in which something as simple as the time of day a poll is conducted affects its outcome.read more