Reports of the death of polling have been greatly exaggerated

The first words anyone spoke to me once the election results came in were "What went wrong?" To which I replied, "I was tired and had trouble tying my tie. I'll fix it before I get to class." Far from being sartorially flippant, the point I was making was this: Nothing went "wrong." The polls worked like they were supposed to work. If there was a problem, it was in how they were used – and the fact that we all forgot they

The first words anyone spoke to me once the election results came in were "What went wrong?" To which I replied, "I was tired and had trouble tying my tie. I'll fix it before I get to class." Far from being sartorially flippant, the point I was making was this: Nothing went "wrong." The polls worked like they were supposed to work. If there was a problem, it was in how they were used – and the fact that we all forgot they deal in probabilities and not certainties. Polling theory dictates the pr…