Strength in Numbers

How Polls Work and Why We Need Them

By: G. Elliott Morris

Narrated by: P.J. Ochlan

Public opinion polling is the ultimate democratic process; it gives every person an equal voice in letting elected leaders know what they need and want. But in the eyes of the public, polls today are tarnished. Recent election forecasts have routinely missed the mark and media coverage of polls has focused solely on predicting winners and losers.

In Strength in Numbers, data journalist G. Elliott Morris argues that the larger purpose of political polls is to improve democracy, not just predict elections. Whether used by interest groups, the press, or politicians, polling serves as a pipeline from the governed to the government, giving citizens influence they would otherwise lack. No one who believes in democracy can afford to give up on polls; they should commit, instead, to understanding them better.

Morris takes listeners from the first semblance of data-gathering in the ancient world through to the development of modern-day scientific polling. He explains how the internet and "big data" have solved many challenges in polling—and created others. He covers the rise of polling aggregation and methods of election forecasting, reveals how data can be distorted and misrepresented, and demystifies the uncertainty of polling. Acknowledging where polls have gone wrong in the past, Morris charts a path for the industry's future.

©2022 G. Elliot Morris (P)2022 Tantor

Good Content marred by bad AI reading

Overall good research on a topic I am passionate about was negatively impacted by poor AI narration.

I object to the narration on two fronts - first of all the AI voice wasnt that great, mispronouncing words like "minutae" and "aggregation". The result of this and mediocre inflection made the book tougher to follow than it needs to be.

My other objection is that Audible should support human voice talents through their platform. Audible is owned by one of the richest companies in the world, and should set an example of supporting human labor instead of machines. Allowing AI to replace himans is a dangerous precedent to set.

Rethink the narrator

This narrator is awful. He sounds like a robot. Was really looking forward to the content, but couldn’t make it past the first chapter.