(C) The Conversation This story was originally published by The Conversation and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . American University School of Communication on The Conversation [1] ['Aram Sinnreich', 'Bill Gentile', 'Caty Borum Chattoo', 'Charles Lewis', 'Chris Palmer', 'Emily L. Blout', 'Ericka Menchen-Trevino', 'Filippo Trevisan', 'Joseph Graf', 'Kurt Braddock'] Date: 2024-03-01 13:39:19+00:00 Michael Swensen/Getty Images February 12, 2024 Early polls can offer some insight into candidates’ weak points – but are extremely imprecise Imprecision in election polling has long been recognized. But advance polls are still useful in recognizing trends in voter preferences, and candidates’ weak points. AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File October 6, 2023 Often in error but still seductive: Why we can’t quit election polls The unusual candidacy of former President Donald Trump has made election polling especially appealing, more than a year from the election. But consumers beware: Those polls may be wrong. AP Photo/Charles Krupa November 17, 2022 Some midterm polls were on-target – but finding which pollsters and poll aggregators to believe can be challenging Polling for the 2022 midterms was more accurate than the dramatically wrong predictions of 2016 and 2020, leading one pollster to boast, ‘The death of polling has been greatly exaggerated.’ AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty October 24, 2022 With memories of embarrassments still fresh, election pollsters face big tests in 2022 midterm elections Will some polls misfire in prominent races in the 2022 midterms? Probably. Will such errors be eye-catching? In some cases, perhaps. Will the news media continue to tout polls? Undoubtedly. George Tames/New York Times Co./Getty Images June 14, 2022 Woodward and Bernstein didn’t bring down a president in Watergate – but the myth that they did lives on Washington Post reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward broke stories about the Watergate scandal that helped unravel Richard Nixon’s presidency. But they were not the sole force to bring him down. AP Photo/Nick Ut, File June 2, 2022 50 years after ‘Napalm Girl,’ myths distort the reality behind a horrific photo of the Vietnam War and exaggerate its impact The ‘Napalm Girl’ photo is much more than powerful evidence of war’s indiscriminate effects on civilians. It also shows how false assertions can get traction in the media. AP Photo/John Minchillo August 30, 2021 Why is it so difficult to fight domestic terrorism? 6 experts share their thoughts Addressing American domestic radicalism will require new ways of thinking about the nation’s problems, and new ways of solving them. Tom Pennington/Getty Images July 20, 2021 Election polls in 2020 produced ‘error of unusual magnitude,’ expert panel finds, without pinpointing cause A task force of polling experts found surveys notably understated support for Donald Trump, both nationally and at the state level. Here’s what may have gone wrong, according to a polling historian. Chris McGrath/Getty Images May 20, 2021 Survey experts have yet to figure out what caused the most significant polling error in 40 years in Trump-Biden race Stung by their failure to accurately predict the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, pollsters collectively went off to figure out what went wrong. They have yet to figure out what or why. Bettmann via Getty Images April 2, 2021 60 years after Bay of Pigs, New York Times role – and myth – made clear The New York Times gave in to White House pressure and did not publish crucial information about an impending US-backed invasion of Cuba. It’s an old story, much repeated – but it’s wrong. Xinhua/Liu Jie via Getty Images February 5, 2021 Impeachment trial: Research spanning decades shows language can incite violence Language affects behavior. When words champion aggression, make violence acceptable and embolden audiences to action, incidents like the insurrection at the Capitol are the result. Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images January 15, 2021 Kata-kata dari mulut Trump adalah amunisi yang mempersenjatai serangan di Capitol Setiap kata punya konsekuensi. Penelitian beberapa dekade mendukung argumen bahwa pidato Trump kemungkinan besar mendorong massa pendukungnya sehingga terjadi pemberontakan di gedung Capitol AS. Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images January 13, 2021 At impeachment hearing, lawmakers will deliberate over a deadly weapon used in the attack on Capitol Hill – President Trump’s words Words have consequences. And decades of research supports the contention that Donald Trump’s words could in fact incite people to mount an insurrection at the US Capitol. Octavio Jones/Getty Images November 11, 2020 In its troubled hour, polling could use an irreverent figure to reset expectations Pollster Bud Roper once said of his field that “a good deal more than half is art and … less than half is science.” After the 2020 polls got a lot wrong, is it time for more candor from pollsters? Ricardo Arduengo/AFP via Getty Images November 6, 2020 Élections américaines : un échec embarrassant pour les sondeurs Les sondages prédisaient une « vague bleue » qui ne s’est pas concrétisée. Ricardo Arduengo/AFP via Getty Images November 4, 2020 An embarrassing failure for election pollsters Polls predicted a ‘blue wave’ that didn’t materialize. Jeff Swensen/Getty Images November 4, 2020 A Q&A with a historian of presidential polls An expert on the history of polling has a first take on how pollsters did this year. Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post via Getty Images October 29, 2020 Why Americans are so enamored with election polls Polling is an imperfect attempt at providing insight and explanation. But the public’s desire for insight and explanation about elections never ends, so polls endure despite their flaws and failures. [END] --- [1] Url: https://theconversation.com/institutions/american-university-school-of-communication-2885 Published and (C) by The Conversation Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/theconversation/