Next Poll - Page 33 - Anything Goes - Other topics not covered elsewhere - Tartan Army Message Board Jump to content

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 1k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

My over riding hope is that the pollsters have made mistakes. I dont know a lot about how they work out their numbers but I am hoping maybe they are doing their polls regionally. So taking opinions across all regions of scotland and coming to their numbers that way. My hope however is that Glasgow is significantly more strongly in favour of yes and that the sheer numbers of glasgow and that support mean a bigger yes impact than the evenly evenly matched polls over all.

I am probably dreaming a bit and well wide of the mark but its my big hope!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm behind the paywall, do the hint either way?

I'm behind the paywall, do the hint either way?

They've got some Professors of Sociology from somewhere who think that the Yes vote has been over-estimated.

They also say that the polls could be out either way by 10 points or more.

Make of that what you will...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Martin Boon, director of polling company ICM, said the independence referendum could prove a "polling Waterloo" and become the industry's biggest embarrassment since 1992, when surveys predicted a narrow victory for Neil Kinnock in the days before his eventual defeat to John Major.

He told the BBC all the companies gauging public opinion in the run-up to Thursday's vote were hoping to "dodge a bullet".

The latest poll of polls, the average of the last six surveys, gives the No campaign a narrow 51 per cent to 49 per cent lead. It includes two polls which put Yes ahead.

Mr Boon's comments echo the private feelings of campaign insiders, who believe the vote could produce a much clearer margin of victory for either side than the polls suggest.

He told BBC Radio Four the unprecedented nature of the referendum and the reliance by most companies on relatively small online panels made the result difficult to predict.

He said: "We are dependent on a pot of people which is defined, but we don't know how big it is and in my view it won't be big enough. In that lies a real danger for the accuracy of the polls in advance of this referendum."

Asked if he would be surprised if the result did not reflect the poll findings, he said: "No. This referendum has the potential to be a polling Waterloo, the biggest since 1992 when the polls got it wrong.

"I can't say I'd be surprised. I very much hope that polling companies do the market research industry justice by getting it at least in the right area. I think and hope the best that we in the industry can hope for is that we dodge a bullet, but it's entirely possible the bullets do start spraying our way."

Of the six companies that have been following the referendum, four, ICM, YouGov, Panelbase and Survation, use online panels. TNS speak to people face to face, while Ipsos MORI use phone interviews.

Experts believe the polls may be underestimating two possible factors. It is feared they may be missing a big surge in support for independence among people who rarely vote, underestimating the strength of the Yes vote.

However, there are also concerns the polls are blind to significant numbers of "shy Nos," people who are reluctant to tell pollsters they oppose independence.

Mr Boon said: "In Scotland now I believe it could be true to a limited degree there is a kind of patriotism spiral of silence going on. Perhaps some people think it is unpatriotic to say they are a No voter, maybe they are inclined to silence."

Stephen Fisher, an associate professor of Political Sociology at Oxford University, said the polls had overestimated the Yes or pro-change vote in 12 of 16 recent referendums around the world. He also said the polls may be underestimating the No vote because of a "spiral of silence".

Writing on the What Scotland Thinks website, he said: "It seems more likely that the headline poll figures are over- rather than under-estimating the vote for Scottish independence."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

About the only way the remaining polls would matter or be worthy of news was if they returned high 50's% or 60%+ for either side. The dice has been rolled already for many people and it's too late in the game for pollsters to find better ways of modelling the vote. It's highly likely it'll stay too close to call so that pollsters can minimise the damage to their reputations if they get it wrong.

That said, if all remaining polls show Yes at 60%, I reserve the right to respect their opinions and share them on Pussbook. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

FFS given the difficulties in polling for this one would it not make sense to up the sample from a thousand? Every time it is the same 1000 or thereabouts. I'd like to see a 10,000 sample. (Get that bloke from Stage coach to pay.)

I read an irish blog earlier where they said some of the samples were as low as 700 which somehow helped the no.

Welcome back you turd.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ipsos-Mori were within 1% of all parties in the last Scottish Elections. Phone poll only. They will bring out a poll tomorrow I think it is.

Are you talking about the Ipsos Mori poll released two weeks before the election? It did accurately predict what share of the vote the SNP would get for the constituency and regional list votes, however it also predicted Labour would do better than they actually did, in particular their prediction for Labour share of the vote in the regional list was significantly higher than what they ended up getting (32% vs 26%).

It's worth looking back at the final poll released on the eve of the 2011 election.

YouGov predicted: SNP 42/35 LAB 35/32 CON 11/13 LIB 8/7

The final scores were: SNP 45/44 LAB 32/26 CON 14/12 LIB 8/5

So they underestimated the SNP's regional vote by 9%! They overestimated the Labour vote by similar amounts.

I hope and pray that the pollsters are somehow vastly underestimating the Yes vote in the same way!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...



×
×
  • Create New...