Sampling Error (Taylor's Version)

Friends. You don't know what finding fun stats blog content has been like over the last few years. All of the data writers/websites I followed were always writing about, explaining, and visualizing COVID or political data (rightfully so).

I prefer examples about puppies, lists of songs banned from wedding receptions, and ghosts. Memorable examples stick in my students' heads and don't presuppose any knowledge about psychological theory. 

Due to the lack of silly data and my own life as a professor, mom of two, wife, and friend, my number of posts during The Rona definitely dipped. 

But now, as the crocuses bloom in Erie, PA, the earth, and I, are finding new life and new examples.

Nathaniel Rakich, writing for FiveThirtyEight, wrote a whole piece USING TAYLOR SWIFT TO EXPLAIN POLLING/SAMPLING ERRORS.

Specifically, this article tackles three different polling firms and how they went about asking Americans which Taylor Swift album is their favorite Taylor Swift album. 

This is a lovely little lesson on sampling and why even conscientious polling from known, reliable firms yield different outcomes.

The whole article just reads at a good UG level for explaining sampling error all on its own, without much interpretation from me. First, look at this example of margin of error:

Now, look at this beautiful picture of Taylor from the Eras tour!

Also, here is an excellent example for your next psychometrics class. Question-wording matters, friends.

And another picture from the Eras tour:

THIS POST IS DEDICATED TO DR. CIARA KIDDER. The biggest Swifty I know and my emotional support human when we got stuck in Charlotte overnight on the way back from NITOP 2023. She is a more seasoned traveler than I am, and totes helped me understand what was happening when I was tired and confused and operating on four hours of sleep.