Is opinion polling broken?
Following some high profile slip-ups in recent US elections, we ask whether it’s time to call time on polling.
The opinion polling industry’s reputation has taken a battering in recent years, as high profile slip-ups in the US presidential election exposed frailties. So should we write them off? Not according to Economist data journalist G Elliot Morris, who’s written a book called Strength in Numbers: How Polls Work and Why We Need Them.
Presenter: Tim Harford
Producer: Jon Bithrey
Editor: Richard Vadon
Programme Coordinator: Brenda Brown
Sound Engineer: Rod Farquhar
Unlock the history and truth behind the data with The OU
Explore how numbers shape, and sometimes mislead us, with The Open University.
When can you trust statistics?
BBC Ideas discovers three easy ways to help make sense of statistics.
Podcast
-
![]()
More or Less
Tim Harford explains the numbers and statistics used in everyday life.
