You can’t get into an argument about polls without some wise guy whipping out the “margin of error” to shut down the other side. But what is the margin of error, exactly?

The margin of error is a mathematical calculation of how accurate the poll results are – of how closely the answers given by the small group match the views held by the larger group.

A margin of error that is almost 30% is still quite a wide range. However, imagine that the researchers tested this new drug on 1,000 people instead of 10 and it was effective in 700 of them.

In fallout over polls, "margin of error" gets new scrutiny Polling experts are questioning whether the margin of error is a useful metric. Some say it should be banished.