There was no great magic in 2018. No special use of statistics. It played out almost exactly the way the polling data showed and stayed largely within the margins of error. I predicted exactly what happened as well, but certainly don't tout any special use of statistics.I agree with you. No magic involved. Yet the majority of people on this forum got it wrong in 2018. Emotion over reality I guess.
House to Dems by no record setting margin. Senate remains fairly static with some Republican gains.
2016 was also within the margin of error for most of the polls out there too, just went to the underdog by the couple points. It was entirely pundits that predicted Clinton's massive win, not so much the pollsters. And the pundits got left with egg on their faces.
But to the question of polling questions, there is an art to the writing of questions and then advertising the answers. While you choose a very straightforward one as an example, a better one is.
Question : Do you support universal healthcare?
Answer : Yes - 70% plus now support it.
Question : Do you support universal healthcare if it means giving up your current plan and paying a larger share?
Answer : No - Only 13% or so support that.
Easy to play games with polls just by questions alone. And in the political world it also easy to manipulate samples as not really being random. Originally Posted by eccielover
Yes, it is possible to play games with polls and lead the people being polled into certain responses. But the major polling firms depend on their reputation and doing so would not help. Most polling questions are very straight forward. The goal of most surveys is to get the correct results, not trick people.
And you are right when you say that statistics did not come into play in my predicting the results of the 2018 midterms. Logic did. But it was logic based on statistical polls and data.
You have to understand my "relationship" with LL. His primary goal on this forum is seemingly to try to embarrass me. Doesn't work but he still tries. Our history goes back a long way. Enough said.