MP on NSA Polls on CBS Public Eye

Divergent Polls Legacy blog posts Measurement Issues President Bush

Today I accepted an invitation to contribute to the "Outside Voices" feature on the CBS News blog "Public Eye."  My post — about lessons learned from the conflicting NSA telephone records polls — is now up.   Here’s my bottom line:

The lesson we could all stand to learn here is that on issues of public
policy no single question provides a precise, “scientific” measure of
the truth. The most accurate read of public opinion usually comes from
comparing the sometimes conflicting results of many different questions
on many different polls and understanding the reasons for those
differences.

Check it out.  You might want to click thru just to see the non-mysterious photo. 

Mark Blumenthal

Mark Blumenthal is political pollster with deep and varied experience across survey research, campaigns, and media. The original "Mystery Pollster" and co-creator of Pollster.com, he explains complex concepts to a multitude of audiences and how data informs politics and decision-making. A researcher and consultant who crafts effective questions and identifies innovative solutions to deliver results. An award winning political journalist who brings insights and crafts compelling narratives from chaotic data.