Margin of Error - A simple explanation

By now, unless you're hiding under a rock, you've seen about a bazillion (10 ^ huge) polls about the Presidential election. They always have a "margin of error" listed, and sometimes even remember to say that if the difference in scores is less than this margin, it's a "statistical dead heat". But they generally don't explain what that all means.

So I will.

( Behind the cut, that is. )

And there you have it, the reasons behind the margin of error.

Take a poll number, add and subtract the margin of error to it, and you have a range that's 90% likely to be correct...assuming everything about the polling process was done right.

(no subject)

( No best book )

Left the end quote inside the cut, since it's the same as on the First Looks.