Virginia Mathematics Teacher Spring 2017

consistent with the Electoral College process. The results of these polls also showed overlapping confidence intervals for Clinton and Trump (Agiesta, 2016, September 26). Unfortunately, these few states do not offer adequate information to accurately estimate the will of the people. To date, polling results do not use the Electoral College voting process used in the United States. Currently, they mimic a plurality voting system. In conclusion, the polling data can be misleading and frustrating. If a person is statistically literate and politically literate, then he or she have the skills to make sense of the polling results. In the recent 2016 presidential election, the statistically literate person would recognize that the overlapping confidence intervals, based on the polling data, indicate there was no clear leader. This same politically literate person would realize that the polling data at best, is an estimate of a potential winner because the Electoral College process is not embedded into the results. In the end, statistical literacy joined with political literacy, allows the citizenry to make sense of the data reported from the polling organizations and understand that these results they are only estimates at best. References Agiesta, J. (2016, October 25). Clinton leads by 5 heading into final two weeks. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/24/ politics/hillary-clinton-donald-trump- presidential-polls/ Agiesta, J. (2016, September 26). CNN/ORC polls: Trump, Clinton deadlocked in Colorado, Pennsylvania. Retrieved from http:// www.cnn.com/2016/09/26/politics/donald- trump-hillary-clinton-colorado-

pennsylvania-polls/ Cassel, C.A. & Lo, C.C. (1997). Theories of Political Literacy, Political Behavior, 19 (4). Denver, D. & Hands, G. (1990). Does studying politics make a difference? The political knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of school students, British Journal of Political Science, 20, 263-288 Gal, I. (2002). Adult’s statistical literacy: Meanings, components, responsibilities. International Statistical Review, 70 (1), 1- 51. Real Clear Politics, (2016, November). General Election: Trump vs. Clinton vs. Johnson vs. Stein. Retrieved from http:// www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/ president/us/ general_election_trump_vs_clinton_vs_joh nson_vs_stein-5952.html Shaughnessy, J. M. (2007). Research on statistics learning and reasoning, In Frank K. Lester, Jr. (Ed.). Second Handbook on Research on Mathematics Teaching and Learning , (pp. 957-1009). Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Silver, N. (2016, November, 8). Five Thirty Eight. Final Election Update: There’s A Wide Range of Outcomes, and Most of Them Come up Clinton. Retrieved from http:// fivethirtyeight.com/features/final-election -update-theres-a-wide-range-of-outcomes -and-most-of-them-come-up-clinton/ Wallman, K. K. (1993). Enhancing statistical literacy: Enriching our society. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 88 (421), 1-8.

Carrie Case Faculty

Jean Mistele Associate Professor Radford University jmistele@radford.edu

Radford University cscase@radford.edu

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