Survey Research

With Ken Cor. What’s the least amount of data you need to collect to estimate the population mean with a particular standard error? For the simplest case—estimating the mean of a binomial variable using simple random sampling, a conservative estimate of the variance (p=.5), and a ±3

Setting aside concerns about sampling, the quality of survey responses on popular survey platforms is abysmal (see here and here). Both insincere and inattentive respondents are at issue. A common strategy for identifying inattentive respondents is to use attention checks. However, many of these attention checks stick out like sore

The Quant. Interwebs have overflowed with joy since the election. Poll aggregation works. And so indeed does polling, though you won’t hear as much about it on the news, which is likely biased towards celebrity intellects than the hardworking many. But why were the polls so accurate? One potential

Given, 1. older browsers are likelier to display the survey incorrectly. 2. type of browser can be a proxy for respondent’s proficiency in using computers, and speed of the Internet connection. People using older browsers may abandon surveys at higher rates than those using more modern browsers. Using data

The General Social Survey (GSS), run out of National Opinion Research Center at University of Chicago, and American National Election Studies (ANES), which until recently ran out of University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research, are two preeminent surveys tracking over-time trends in social and political attitudes, beliefs and