>Medical research \= presidential polling. Clearly, there is
>no way to definitively know how a hypothetical match-up would
>play out - that's why reputable polling becomes useful
>analytics (sort of how data analytics is used in sports to
>have some predictive sense of how a player/team might perform
>in the future in various scenarios).

data analytics in sports is based on actual *past* behavior. its compiling data on material actions that have *already taken place* to give insight into something that has not yet (like using primary data to give insight about general performance...which i have been doing).

thats the very opposite of what you are suggesting.

predictive polling is based entirely on subjective questioning/answering without *any* consideration for hardcoded past data. its literally just a collection of peoples opinions lol.

predictive polling is like forecasting the weather with no noaa radar data or historical trends. its going outside and asking your neighbors 'do you want rain or sunshine today?'.

*exit* polling is actually 'data analytics' and far more conclusive/useful. exit polls are results based on *real* voter behavior and concrete actions. thats where you analyze what people actually *did* and not what they say they wanted to do.

thats why...after elections occur...they dont go to pre-election polls to tell the story of what happened lol. they go to the exit poll data.