Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Nik on the Numbers - go visit

Here's two links for those interested in the black art of quantitative politics (better known as polling).


The first is a relatively new blog called Nik on the Numbers.

If you are long-term political junkie then you will recognise the name Nikita Nanos*. His firm SES Research is one of the most, if not the most, respected political pollsters in the business.

Nik is a regular commentator on CPAC, provided insight and analysis during the Montreal Liberal leadership convention and holds the distinction of correctly calling the results of the last federal election when his colleagues could not.

One of the great highlights of the last couple of elections has been his daily tracking polls which have become a must-read for everyone in every campaign. If you haven't signed up for them yet, you should do it now.

Nik on the Numbers is his latest foray into web communications. It's a discussion blog open to all comers where national issues are discussed by a wide and varied audience. Well worth reading and contributing to.

The other link is a New York Times obituary of Warren Mitofsky. Besides being the father of the exit poll thus revolutionizing the way the media covers election nights, he was also a pioneer in the area of random dialing methods for telephone polls. Modern political research would not be the same without his contributions.


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* A personal note, I've known Nik for 20 years or so when we both competed on the Canadian university debating circuit. He was always an honourable and hard opponent - diligent, clear, logical and convincing. It's been a pleasure to see his career path developed to this level and I know that greater things will come his way.

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