Knowing the Background is half the Game
As statisticians we are used to the fact that we have a hard time analyzing data where we lack the knowledge of the background. Election data are a common target in statistical investigations and some of us can not be stopped talking about red and blue states over and over again.
Having won this book at this year’s ASA statistical graphics and computing mixer at the JSM, I was quite surprised that there is so much more to election data than understanding the election process.
Most of my enlightenment was more on the negative side and I felt lucky that German elections still lack a lot of the negative campaigning which is common in the US for decades now.
In any case I found the book as interesting as entertaining – worth reading it!
