Boston Area Colleges Election Project

Black candidates David Dinkins and Douglas Wilder did better in the polls than in the actual returns in the 1989 elections, similar to Tom Bradley's experience in the California race for governor in 1

To be accurate, exit polls need to be conducted throughout election day. Different groups vote at different times of day.

African American respondents performed more poorly in answering factual questions (rather than questions on opinion) when interviewed by a white interviewer than when interviewed by an African America

Giving voters secret ballots in exit-polling leads to higher response rates and more accurate results than doing face-to-face interviews

Examines failures of pre-election polls to predict accurately the Clinton/Obama primary results. Submits that ultimately, likely-voter models are the culprit of the inaccuracies.

From abstract: "Misreport is a serious problem because inaccurate data may lead to erroneous substantive conclusions.

Demonstrates that question wording designed to correct for social desirablility overreporting and misremembrance overreporting can reduce overrerporting in general.

Blacks interviewed by whites were more likely to express closeness toward whites than blacks interviewed by blacks.

The Loyola Marymount poll, the poll implemented in this study, used a "racially stratified homogonous precinct approach that specifically designated precincts in predominantly White, Black, Latino, a