US Presidential Election - the importance of accurate data

The tight and at times heated Presidential Primary on the democratic side of the US Presidential race has shown how important it is to have accurate public opinion information.  Every night US television showed a new poll that had either Clinton or Obama leading in a different state and data that had one leading among gender, race, income level, and religion.  All of this data is used to determine where campaign dollars are spent.  Campaign schedules and most importantly the topics that are addressed are all based upon this data that is collected by these daily polls.

In a non-stop media market results are needed almost instantaneously, as a candidate might need data on how to address something that came up that day and as we have seen ‘something comes up” everyday.  In a tight race the manner and timeliness of a candidate’s response could make the difference whether they win or lose.  A quick poll of the public reaction has the power to make it or break it for them.  Even very specific polls taken town by town or by veterans, for example, will help guide where they might need to campaign again or if they need to visit a veteran’s hospital for example.

In this world of fast decision making mistakes are avoided when you have the best understanding of what the public is thinking.  The quickest and most cost-effective way of catching public opinion is on the web, but accuracy is important and the only way of achieving the level of accuracy necessary is to have, and effectively use, a well structured online panel.

This recent campaign has taught the pollsters that they need to have a large and well managed public opinion panel so that at any minute we can have the data to help us make the right decisions and avoid costly mistakes.  This needs good quality management and fast accurate sampling to use it to its best.

For more information about the MARSC sampling and panel management solution please contact us on +44 (0) 1306 621062 or email sales@marsc.com.