TOPIC 4.6 · Newsroom evidence management · CLASSROOM TESTING
The Lantern: Night Desk
Run a night shift, repair charts, audit six fictional polls, and decide what can go to press.
Keep the headline honest.
You’re the night editor. Six data envelopes. One printing press. Your reputation is on the front page.
Three desks. One defensible edition.
At Briefing, inspect the population, sampling method, and uncertainty. At Graphics, repair the chart’s baseline. At Press, choose exactly two statements the evidence supports. Run the proof; revise if it fails. Explain a limitation before opening the next envelope.
Use Tab and Enter or tap any desk. The chart has an equivalent data table. There is no speed penalty. All polls, people, and events are invented for this game.
The race is “over”?
A candidate’s campaign wants tomorrow’s front page. Audit its claim before the newspaper goes to press.
MARA’S RESEARCH DESK
Read beyond the percentage.
Fictional probability sample of 1,000 likely voters; each estimate has a ±3 percentage point margin of sampling error. Undecided voters are omitted from the bars.
- Ask before publication
- Who is the target population? Who had a chance to be selected? What does the reported uncertainty cover—and omit?
- Researcher’s caution
- Likely-voter definitions, nonresponse, question wording, and changes before election day can affect the inference.
The first data envelope has arrived. Open the briefing desk.
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