Polling at a Crossroads

Michael A. Bailey is Walsh Professor in the Department of Government and McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University, where he directs the Data Science for Public Policy program. His research has been published in top academic journals. He is author of Real Econometrics (2020) and The Constrained Court (2011).

• Part I. Polling in Context: 1. Modern Polling: Challenges and Opportunities; 2. The Story of Polling in 2.5 Fiascos; 3. Weighting: An Appreciation and Critique; 4. The Wild West of Contemporary Polling; Part II. A Framework for Modern Polling: 5. Non-Ignorable Non-Response; 6. Contemporary Polling and Non-Ignorable Non-Response; Part III. Fighting Non-Ignorable Non-Response: 7. Bounding Damage from Non-Ignorable Non-Response; 8. Selection Models for Non-Ignorable Non-Response; 9. Next Generation Selection Models; 10. Randomized Response Instruments; 11. Putting it Together; Part IV Applications: 12. Non-Ignorable Non-Response in Political Surveys; 13. Non-Ignorable Non-Response in Public Health; 14. Conclusion.

'Throughout the masterful Polling at a Crossroads, Bailey provides a lucid explanation of the problems pollsters face and a compelling argument for why a new approach is needed. By bringing ideas and insights from various disciplines together, Bailey shows how pollsters can move beyond past approaches to tackle increasingly consequential issues related to survey non-response; respondents now differ from non-respondents in unobservable ways. In describing the issues confronting contemporary polling, the book builds to a convincing and forceful advocacy for the use of selection models in survey research and, in so doing, it provides a perspective that every pollster must consider going forward.' Josh Clinton, Abby and Jon Winkelried Chair, Vanderbilt University