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September 12, 2004
Should Pollsters Weight Polls By Party ID of Subjects?
This is something that's forever being argued about-- I know that when I see a poll that has a suspiciously-high sample of Democrats in its sample, I discount it.
Of course, right now there are a suspiciously-high number of Republicans in the Time and Newsweek polls, and, while I do partly discount those polls for that reason, I also partly believe them.
Which is, of course, inconsistent. I don't believe one poll because I don't want to believe it; I believe another because I want to believe it.
Dan Rather can tell you all about the power of wanting something to be true. Just ask him in a month, when he's retired.
At any rate, a real live pollster writes to MyDD to explain why his firm doesn't weight by party ID. It's a good introduction to the issue.