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“USA Today” Reports of Tracking Polls Sometime Ignore Sampling Error.

A study was conducted to analyze the accuracy of USA Today newspaper's reportage of its own daily tracking poll throughout the 2000 presidential campaign, with particular attention to the handling of sampling error. Findings indicated that USA Today was inclined to talk about change and difference...

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Published in:Newspaper Research Journal Vol. 25; no. 2; pp. 116 - 121
Main Author: Reavy, Matthew M.
Format: Article
Published: Newspaper Research Journal Spring2004
Subjects:
USA Today (Arlington, Va.)
United States presidential election, 2000
Election coverage
Election forecasting
Statistical sampling
Errors
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
Summary:A study was conducted to analyze the accuracy of USA Today newspaper's reportage of its own daily tracking poll throughout the 2000 presidential campaign, with particular attention to the handling of sampling error. Findings indicated that USA Today was inclined to talk about change and difference in daily poll results even when such so-called changes fell well within the poll's margin of error.