The tidal wave of polling on the 2020 presidential race is building, but what do all the numbers mean? How should journalists use polls through the primary season and into the general election?
For journalists grappling with conflicting results, margins of error and polls conducted by text, the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) is offering a webinar for journalists on January 15, 2020, 11:00 am Eastern time. The webinar will look back the polls' performance in 2016 (surprise, the polls did pretty well) and forward to 2020 to give journalists the tools to report reliably on what the polls are showing.
AAPOR, the nation's leading professional organization of survey researchers, offers a wealth of material and guidance on how to handle polls. And AAPOR has experts who are ready to answer questions from journalists stumped by the latest poll hand-out through the election year.
From what a journalist must ask about a poll before even writing the first word to figuring out if Biden is really ahead of Warren in South Carolina, the webinar will go in-depth on the potential pitfalls that face journalists every day in reporting on poll results. The explosion of polling methods from IVR to text surveys, the plethora of samples (RDD, RBS, Voter files and on) and the emergence of new polling organizations all pose a challenge for journalists.
Journalists participating in the online webinar will have the chance to ask their questions about polling and 2020.