WCIA-TV (Aug. 11) -- A group of researchers at the University of Illinois are focusing on numbers to predict who's going to be our next president. They call it Election Analytics. The website is put together and updated every day by students and a professor at the University of Illinois. Computer science professor Sheldon Jacobson, who organized it, says they're the most accurate predictors in the country. Also: Science Blog (Aug. 8), News-Gazette (Champaign-Urbana, IL, Aug. 17), INFORMS e-news (Aug. 18), Fox TV 55/27 (Champaign/Springfield, Aug. 19).
Related Story: News-Gazette (Sept. 13) -- Every Tuesday between now and Nov. 8, we’ll provide an updated snapshot of the race for president, as broken down by the numbers crunchers at ELECTION ANALYTICS, a nonpartisan website developed by UI Professor Sheldon Jacobson and his students that analyzes state polling data.
Related story: SIAM news (article by Sheldon Jacobson, Sept. 14) -- In the Age of Analytics, numerous websites exist to interpret and analyze the stream of data that floods the airwaves and newswires. Seemingly contradictory data challenges even the most seasoned analysts and pundits. Many of these websites also employ political spin and engender subtle or not-so-subtle political biases that, in some cases, color the interpretation of data to the left or right. Undergraduate computer science students at Illinois manage Election Analytics, a nonpartisan, easy-to-use website for anyone seeking an unbiased interpretation of polling data. Launched in 2008, the site fills voids in the national election forecasting landscape.