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Connections: Discussing what happened with polling for the 2020 election

Can we ever trust the polls again? That's what many Americans are wondering after the presidential election saw Donald Trump once again out-perform many of the expectations set by state and national polls. What went wrong?

This hour, we talk to a pollster from Siena, a data analyst, and a professor who studies polling. They analyze the results and they explain how polling is done. They also discuss what kinds of changes might have to happen to make sure polls are still accurate enough to be helpful in the future. Our guests:

  • Joseph Burgess, data curator for the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research at Cornell University
  • Don Levy, director of the Siena College Research Institute
  • David Primo, Ani and Mark Gabrellian Professor, and professor of political science and business administration at the University of Rochester

Evan Dawson is the host of "Connections with Evan Dawson." He joined WXXI in January 2014 after working at 13WHAM-TV, where he served as morning news anchor. He was hired as a reporter for 13WHAM-TV in 2003 before being promoted to anchor in 2007.
Megan Mack is the executive producer of "Connections with Evan Dawson" and live/televised engagement programming.