Can political prediction models pick the election winner better than the polls, the weather or Washington’s football team?
Better opinions polls are more expensive because pollsters need to spend more effort getting a representative and honest sample of voters.
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You could compare election opinion polls to penalty shoot-outs at a World Cup final: there’s huge pressure to get it right and we remember the big misses most of all.
Malcolm Turnbull’s days were numbered as the Newspoll losses continued to mount.
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Policymaking is no longer based solely on what a party stands for. Now, it also matters how a decision is going to play in the opinion polls – and that’s a problem for our political system.
We are often presented with surveys that claim to show how we all think on a certain subject. But how many people do you need to ask for that finding to have have any convincing meaning?
Former South African President Jacob Zuma sings at the ANC National Conference in December.
Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko
Australians will be asked to complete a voluntary, non-binding postal vote on marriage reform. Wouldn’t it be easier - and cheaper - to do a sample survey instead?
Concerns over filter bubbles and fake news are often based on anecdotal evidence. There is relatively little systematic research on the topic; a new survey finds widespread fears are unwarranted.
Liberal MP Ian Goodenough is chairing a parliamentary inquiry into freedom of speech in Australia.
AAP/Lukas Coch
Neither Galaxy Research nor the Institute of Public Affairs think-tank discussed the most interesting data they garnered from polling on free speech and reform to Section 18C.
Union workers supporting coal energy (right) face off against environmentalists in Pittsburgh, 2013.
AP Photo/Keith Srakocic
Most Americans care about the environment, but they didn’t vote that way this year. Two political scientists urge the movement to build better connections with blue-collar workers and immigrants.
Pollsters seemed to grow reflective as the night wore on.
EPA/JASON SZENES
Mark Textor, the Liberal pollster, has raged against the modern addiction to polls, in an article this week that shows he can indeed walk both sides of the street, as insider and observer.
Malcolm Turnbull receives a lick during a visit to the Port of Eden on the NSW south coast on Monday.
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Finally, Clive Palmer has formally put a full stop to his personal political career, announcing on Monday he won’t be running for the Senate. Palmer United Party (PUP) will still field Senate candidates…
Professor, Future Fellow and Head of Statistics at UNSW, and a Deputy Director of the Australian Centre of Excellence in Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers (ACEMS), UNSW Sydney