The Pollcast: Polling 101
A primer on how polls are done and the role pollsters play in Canadian elections
There are two things you can be certain of when it comes to polls: the numbers in them will keep changing, and so will the way pollsters do their jobs.
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The polling industry has been in a state of flux over the last few decades as more polling firms have moved away from the traditional method of contacting people by phone to embrace online polling.
While online polling can be more cost-effective than telephone polling — and avoids the problem of falling response rates — the task of recruiting and maintaining representative online panels of Canadians that can be as accurate as probabilistic sampling methods comes with its own set of challenges.
To discuss how polling methodology is shifting — and the role pollsters play in Canadian elections — David Coletto, CEO of Abacus Data, joins host and CBC polls analyst Éric Grenier on this week's episode of The Pollcast podcast.
Listen to the full discussion above — or subscribe to the CBC Pollcast and listen to past episodes of the show.
