Is+this+Data+any+Good?

//__ Is this Data any Good? __// As journalists, you will not do the poll; you will evaluate the results. Although most researchers presumably design their polls with integrity, you need to be careful. A poor poll can create errors, introduce bias and accidentally lead to incorrect conclusions. For example, if the people selected to answer questions are mainly republicans, the poll response will be obviously biased. This is what happened when papers incorrectly predicted that Dewey won over Truman in the presidential election of 1948. More subtely, pollsters need to make sure that the people asked are actually registered (if you are not registered you may have an opinion, but you cannot vote) and are likely to vote (knowing your opinions is nice, but does it really matter if you will not be voting?) Here is a web site that talks about evaluating statistics: http://www.ipspr.sc.edu/publication/Link.htm.<span Think about these concerns and include the possible errors in the polls you selected. Include your findings and questions in your analysis. Here's another possible problem that identifies how racial predjudice might enter into the upcoming presidential election : http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,959088,00.html Now that you see so many potential problems in getting good poll numbers, do you see why the different polls give different percentage leads?