Do people believe news election/opinion polls are accurate?

Aren't CNN election polls conducted in a manner that is not statistically significant? Do people pay any attention to them?

Do people believe news election/opinion polls are accurate?
I don't. All polls have some sort of bias to them. This is why they are inaccurate most of the time.
Reply:It's not polls that are statistically significant (or not). It's "differences." Thus, for example, one can say, "Smith leads Jones by one percentage point, but the difference is not statistically significant." Essentially that means there's a good chance that Smith is not *actually* in the lead, because a difference that small is likely to be due to sampling error.





Regarding your question, I can't give a simple yes or no answer. I'd say that the polls are useful because they are fairly accurate, but they are certainly less than perfect.
Reply:You sound better educated than most people about this.





Many of the "polls" on news channels are footnoted as "not scientifically accurate" or something, which means it's just a survey for entertainment and not a scientifically accurate measure of anything, except who bothered to call in and give the opinion. Kind of like voting on American Idol.





As you seem to understand, actual POLLS are set up to be a scientifically defined random sample of a given population (which requires some parameters including NUMBER in order for the results to be statistically signficiant), and must be controlled and analyzed.





It's sad that (1) info-tainment masquerades as news, and (2) most people are too blame IGNORANT to appreciate the difference.





These are the people electing national leaders.
Reply:Honestly, I think ALL polls are pretty much "useless." They're based on opinions of a few hundred and opinions change from day to day.





Plus, some polls are taken via land line phone, which automatically eliminates younger voters who only have mobile phones.





It's interesting and it's useful for the day-to-day strategy a campaign needs, but in the big picture they're inherently flawed.
Reply:I have heard many theories that most of the polls you're talking about are targeted towards specific demographic or location and thus do not represent statistics based on the United States as a whole. The way in which the question is phrased is also important to take into account.





Nonetheless, no one can truly judge whether or not any poll is twisted. How do we even know the actual elections aren't rigged?
Reply:Some are and some aren't you can make a poll say anything you want it to, if you ask the right people. Like the polls that say Obama doesnt have the uneducated, white, blue collar workers. Thats Is mainly in OH.WV.KY.PA. Thats where I grew up. Theres an undercurrent of predjudice there no one believes. Those UNEDUCATED workers are the same as saying bigots. They wont admit it but they are. My Dad, Mom,Grandparents on both sides, my brother, brother-in -law, sister, and all their friends are predjudice. If you ask them they will deny it. They Thank god for Rev. Wright it gives them an excuse they can express and not show their predjudice
Reply:People get very impatient because they are sooooo curious.





They turn to polls to help them deal with their impatience.





Politicians try to gauge polls.





But I've been amazed at how truly bad the polling has been this year.





I mean I don't pay that much attention, but they've been way off multiple times.
Reply:I love when they'll be like 52% for one person and 48% for the other and in small print it will say, "5% margin of error," which means the person with 48% could possibly be winning. Not to mention, who the heck are they asking?! I've never been asked and I don't know anyone who has ever been asked. They ask white people if they will vote for a black candidate. Of course they are going to say, yes. They don't want to look like a racist. But when they step into the voting booth I'm not so sure that's the real story.
Reply:I personally do not. Some one sponsors the polls, they ask the questions in a way that the poll results are just as they intended.





Just like a Michael Moore or Algorythym documentary.
Reply:realclearpolitics.com has all of them combined -- I trust that the most--they seem to be fairly accurate. But who knows about anything the media puts out--they could have a bias.
Reply:I think the politicians pay attention to them. That's why they are so out of touch with what everyone thinks. That was Hillary's problem. She is soooo predictable.
Reply:I believe the Las Vegas odds most, which are a poll of sorts: and FOX5 the least which is just bought and paid for by the neo-cons.
Reply:Judging from their polls in 2000-2004 figure it out for yourself. They project what they want not what the ELECTION POLLS say.


Dan Rather is still in a dither
Reply:I for one do not believe they are accurate.


I watch them just to get an idea but really I always have my suspicions.
Reply:Never paid attention to them and never will.
Reply:I don't. Polls said Clinton would win the Dems nomination, and look where she is now!
Reply:they have an impact upon the stupid and gullible people, unforetunately that means a good portion of the populace
Reply:no...i don't pay attention to them, opinions can change at the drop of a hat..
Reply:Many people do, but shouldn't.
Reply:NO