Skip to content
Connect
Stories

Expert says polling is a snapshot, not a predictor, of what happens on election day

People in this story

CBS Pittsburgh, September 2020

Hardly a day goes by without a new political poll telling us who is in the lead in Pennsylvania for president. But can we trust these polls to be accurate?

In 2016, political polls in many states, including Pennsylvania, were wrong. National polls correctly predicted Hillary Clinton would win the popular vote. But the polls failed to see Donald Trump’s Electoral College victory. That’s led to a healthy skepticism about polling.

“Polls are only as good as their methodology,” professor Costas Panagopoulos told KDKA political editor Jon Delano on Thursday. “They are much less precise than people perceive them to be, but they’re also snapshots in time. They may or may not predict what happens with Election Day.”

Panagopoulos is the chair of the political science department at Northeastern University and a well-known election scholar. He says pollsters have a tough time discerning who is really a like voter for their polls.

Continue reading at CBS Pittsburgh.

More Stories

Co-founder Andrew Song of solar geoengineering startup Make Sunsets holds a weather balloon filled with helium, air and sulfur dioxide at a park in Reno, Nevada, United States on February 12, 2023.

Some Politicians Want to Research Geoengineering as a Climate Solution. Scientists Are Worried

09.18.2023
Chief Executive Officer of SpaceX and Tesla and owner of Twitter, Elon Musk attends the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at the Porte de Versailles exhibition centre on June 16, 2023 in Paris, France.

You’re Not Supporting Ukraine Enough Until the Nuclear Blast Hits Your Face | Opinion

09.14.2023
Picture of Dasani water bottles.

Gov. Healey to sign order banning single-use plastic bottles for state agencies

09.21.23
In the News