Meta-Analysis, the Election, and 538

It’s made even worse this year by the non-response rate to polls, hovering near 90 percent. That means for every ten calls a pollster makes, they get one response. So much for the “random sample” assumption. Continue Reading →

Twitter a Polling Alternative?

This is typical media stupidity. Tweets are public unless you work very hard to keep them private. Most people on Twitter do not reveal much about their personal lives. There are many fake personas, too. Our cat has a Twitter feed (made up mostly of other household pets and other animals). People routinely lie. People will also lie to a telephone pollster, but at least they don’t have the incentive of their response being visible to the entire world. Continue Reading →

Devaluing the Bachelor’s Degree

Magical thinking. That’s what’s going on here. B.A. or B.S. degrees have magical properties. Get one and you’re set. Don’t worry about whether your major is electrical engineering, computer science, or history. Continue Reading →