Loving election polls, even if we don't trust them

+ our bodies are getting cooler‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

How many times a day do you check the election polls? I do it at least four times. Note the “at least.” Yes, I know I’m a political journalist, but these days it seems many Americans have the latest polls at RealClearPolitics and FiveThirtyEight.com bookmarked.

American University School of Communications scholar Joe Campbell has written several stories for us on the history of presidential election polls and how spectacularly wrong they can be. In his latest, Campbell looks at Americans’ love affair with polls and asks why we can’t look away – despite all the “flubs, fiascoes and miscalls.”

Also today:

Naomi Schalit

Senior Editor, Politics + Society

Supporters on election night 2016 at a Hillary Clinton party, when it became clear poll-based forecasts had been off target. Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Why Americans are so enamored with election polls

W. Joseph Campbell, American University School of Communication

Polling is an imperfect attempt at providing insight and explanation. But the public's desire for insight and explanation about elections never ends, so polls endure despite their flaws and failures.

Health
Why sleep experts say it’s time to ditch daylight saving time Michael S. Jaffee, University of Florida That extra hour of sleep you'll be getting comes with a price. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recently said the changes are bad for our sleep.

Science + Technology
People’s bodies now run cooler than ‘normal’ – even in the Bolivian Amazon Michael Gurven, University of California Santa Barbara; Thomas Kraft, University of California Santa Barbara 'Normal' body temperature has declined in urban, industrialized settings like the US and UK. Anthropologists find the trend extends to Indigenous people in the Bolivian Amazon – but why?

Arts + Culture
Rumors of Chris Pratt’s being a ‘MAGA Bro’ show how Twitter’s trending function can go haywire Aaron Duncan, University of Nebraska-Lincoln False premises, fear-based reasoning and mob thinking are baked into the platform, allowing misinformation to thrive.

Politics/Election '20

On Twitter, bots spread conspiracy theories and QAnon talking points

Emilio Ferrara, USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism

Twitter bots amplify conspiracy theories, including the so-called 'collective delusion' that is QAnon, making them appear more popular and able to reach more real humans.
Will Russia influence the American vote?

Scott Jasper, Naval Postgraduate School

As Election Day approaches, Americans would do well to remember they are targets of disinformation campaigns. Here's what they could look like, and what's being done about them.
How ‘strategic’ bias keeps Americans from voting for women and candidates of color

Regina Bateson, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa

Women and people of color continue to appear on ballots less often than white men, and that, in part, is due to concerns by American voters that others will not view these candidates as electable.

Education
Want to teach kids about nature? Insects can help Akito Y. Kawahara, University of Florida; Megan Ennes, University of Florida Insects are plentiful and inexpensive. Even when children aren't attending school in person, they can learn from the encounters they have with insects outside.

Environment + Energy

To save threatened plants and animals, restore habitat on farms, ranches and other working lands

Lucas Alejandro Garibaldi, Universidad Nacional de Rio Negro; Claire Kremen, University of British Columbia; Erle C. Ellis, University of Maryland, Baltimore County; Sandra Díaz, Universidad de Córdoba (Argentina)

The Earth is losing plants and animals at rates not seen in millions of years. Ecologists explain how protecting habitat on working lands – farms, forests and ranches – can help conserve species.

Economy + Business

Google antitrust case suggests Apple should be in the Department of Justice’s crosshairs too

Hemant K. Bhargava, University of California, Davis

Google pays Apple to make its search engine the default on its devices, but the iPhone maker actually has more market power in the relationship.
Gig worker employment fights like those in California pit flexibility against a livable wage – but ‘platform cooperatives’ could ensure workers get both

Juliet B. Schor, Boston College

Workers say they love the freedom of platforms like Uber and TaskRabbit but find it hard to earn a livable wage. Cooperatives that give worker-owners a voice in how they are run offer a solution.

Video
American suburbs radically changed over the decades – and so have their politics Jan Nijman, Georgia State University Suburbs are more racially and economically diverse than ever, making them key battlegrounds for the election.

Ethics + Religion
Halloween isn’t about candy and costumes for modern-day pagans – witches mark Halloween with reflections on death as well as magic Helen Berger, Brandeis University For members of the minority religion of Wicca and witchcraft – part of contemporary paganism – Halloween is not just a children's holiday: It is both a celebration and acceptance of death.

Trending on Site

The spooky and dangerous side of black licorice

Bill Sullivan, Indiana University

Who knew that black licorice had a dark side? A scientist explains when this treat becomes a threat.
Far from being anti-religious, faith and spirituality run deep in Black Lives Matter

Hebah H. Farrag, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences; Ann Gleig, University of Central Florida

BLM has been accused of being 'Godless' and operating in a 'demonic realm.' But scholars of religion see a deep spirituality at work in the movement.
Initiatives to close the digital divide must last beyond the COVID-19 pandemic to work

D. Antonio Cantù, Bradley University

Cities are stepping up to provide free Wi-Fi for families in need in order to close the digital divide in education. But will those efforts make a difference where it counts?

Loving election polls, even if we don't trust them

Health

Science + Technology

Arts + Culture

Politics/Election '20

Education

Environment + Energy

Economy + Business

Video

Ethics + Religion

Trending on Site

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