Well, it’s that time again for the results of the latest Elon University "poll" to be released. See this AP article here. (I use the term poll very lightly, it should be more accurately called a survey.)
The media will once again fawn over the poll and report the results as a snapshot of the pulse of North Carolina.
Just remember, when you read about who’s up or down, that this survey is of all North Carolina residents. More or less, they start dialing random phone numbers and then figure out who they have on the line.
*** Update: Download methodology_and_raw_data_elon.doc
(word doc) Here is the actual methodology statement:
The Elon University Poll is conducted using a
stratified random sample of households with telephones in the population of
interest – in this case citizens in North Carolina.
Ok, so how is it relevant or newsworthy to ask people with telephones their political preference without asking 1) if they are registered to vote or 2) if they even plan to vote. If both of these criteria aren’t met, then their opinion doesn’t really matter, does it?
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