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ABSTRACT
This project examines news coverage of public opinion polls and explores whether journalists and readers are familiar with best practices in this domain. Study 1 tests the effects of related errors on readers’ perceptions, and Study 2 asks journalists to reflect upon this kind of coverage. Readers (N = 495) only noticed errors when they were very frequent, and many did not assess stories differently based on the presence of errors. Journalists (N = 51) acknowledged that this coverage often contains errors, and many identified individual and structural causes. Taken together, this suggests the need for additional training in polling and numeracy for journalists and audiences. Such efforts could improve news articles about public opinion polls, as well as readers’ ability to recognize and seek out stronger coverage.
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
1 For comparison, the journalists were also asked the error knowledge and perception questions from Study 1. Those who completed the knowledge test (n = 45) scored higher than the readers, M = 7.84, SD = 1.62. Knowledge was significantly correlated with journalists’ confidence in reporting with polls and statistics (r = .44, p = .005) and with how frequently they use polls and statistics in their jobs (r = .41, p = .01). Journalists also reported higher error concern than the readers did, M = 5.88, SD = 1.52.