Understanding Political Polling

The team behind “Try This” is dedicated to helping listeners learn new things, in ways that feel doable. So we're sharing a recent “Post Reports” episode about how polling works.

On this episode of The Washington Post’s daily news podcast, “Post Reports,” Martine Powers speaks with The Post’s deputy polling director, Emily Guskin. Emily explains how a poll comes to be, details what to look for when trying to understand whether a poll is trustworthy, and breaks down once and for all what “margin of error” really means.

As the U.S. presidential election gets closer, “Try This” will release a new audio course dedicated to bettering ourselves through civic engagement. Stick to this feed to find that course soon.

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