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Abstract:
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During the recently completed presidential election cycle, our nation saw more polling than during any other cycle in history. But, even after years of publicly released poll results, much of the nation, if not large segments of the media, seem unaware of the basic principles behind the statistics used in survey research. The meaning of statistical concepts, such as "random sample" and "margin of error," are misunderstood, as are operations such as screening for likely voters and weighting. All of this sits on top of other problems like sample selection in the face of widespread cell-phone-only households. How can we as statisticians fill this knowledge vacuum and what is the proper role for the ASA? In short, what can we do to improve the statistical literacy of a nation obsessed with numbers but ignorant of statistical concepts.
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