Using Polls to Inform your Media Strategy
Earlier this week, we covered how to assess the public opinion landscape of the issues we work on. Having an understanding of this big picture, now we are ready to use polling data to inform our media strategy. Developing an informed strategy is all about audience: defining who they are, learning as much as you…
Read MoreUsing Polls in your Media Work: Assessing the Public Opinion Landscape
In the last two weeks, we discussed how the polls performed during the midterms, putting into practice our recommendations on what to pay attention to when evaluating a new poll and how to interpret polling of underrepresented communities. With that foundational understanding of polling under our belt, we now turn to actually using public opinion…
Read More2018 Midterms: Did the polls fail—again?!
This post is part of an ongoing series on the ins and outs of polling. If you missed the previous posts on Five Things to Pay Attention to in a New Poll or Polling Underrepresented Communities, go back and read them! Our series will continue with posts from our comms colleagues on incorporating polls and…
Read MoreHow to Understand Polling of Underrepresented Communities
With five days before the midterms, many of us are preparing to peruse exit poll data hoping to understand how or why Americans voted one way or another. But we’ll do so with caution since recent elections have reminded us of the limitations of exit polling—primarily problems with representative sampling (because we won’t know what…
Read MoreFive Things to Pay Attention to in a New Poll
You’ve just read in the news: “77% of surveyed registered voters said that ‘Reducing the influence of special interests and corruption in Washington’ is either the most important or a very important issue facing the country.” We often see the media citing statistics on how the public feels about major issues. Where do they get…
Read MorePost-Election Data Download: Narratives About Democrats
This post is the third in a series that will examine the election and attempt to answer questions we have been asking internally and fielding from friends, colleagues, and allies. Please don’t hesitate to contact us with additional questions or input. We’ve been looking at a few of the dominant narratives you may be hearing…
Read MorePost-Election Data Download: Narratives About Republicans
This post is the second in a series that will examine the election and attempt to answer questions we have been asking internally and fielding from friends, colleagues, and allies. Please don’t hesitate to contact us with additional questions or input. This week, we’re looking at a few of the dominant narratives you may be…
Read MorePost-Election Data Download: Dominant Narratives: Economic Anxiety vs. Racism
This post is the first in a series that will examine the election and attempt to answer questions we have been asking internally and fielding from friends, colleagues, and allies. We expect this series to take us into the holiday season; please don’t hesitate to contact us with additional questions or input. This week, we…
Read MorePost-Election Data Download, Appendix: Establishing the Facts
We will refer to this post a few times throughout our series on the 2016 Election. Turnout Numbers The United States is infamous for its low voter participation. Unlike many other modern republics—Australia and Turkey among them—and much to their citizens’ surprise, we do not have compulsory voting. Pew Research Center ranked the US 31…
Read MoreThe 2016 Election Taught Us There’s a Lot We Need to Learn About the American Electorate
Well. To say that we were blindsided by the 2016 Election is an understatement. But since November 9, we have been poring over exit polling, turnout data, smart people writing smart things, and any other information we can get our hands on—all with a goal of better understanding what happened and what ReThink’s member organizations…
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