Learning About Political Polls
Information on methods and standards for political polling gathered from various sources.Polling 101: Polling Basics
The Roper Center, one of the leading archives of survey research data, offers a brief introduction to polling methods.Polling 201: Understanding What a Poll Means
The Roper Center provides a brief introduction to poll analysis and interpretation.Best Estimates: A Guide to Sample Size and Margin of Error
Public Agenda, a leading non-partisan public opinion research organization, explains these important polling issues.Understanding How the Gallup Poll Works
Gallup editors detail how the Gallup Poll, the nation’s oldest and most influential survey of political attitudes, is conducted.20 Questions Journalists Should Ask About Any Poll
Sheldon R. Gawiser and G. Evans Witt, cofounders of the Associated Press/NBC News Poll, educate journalists, and the public, about how to determine whether a poll is reliable and meets the standards of the field. Prepared and distributed by the National Council on Public Polls.Principles of Disclosure for Published Polls
The National Council of Public Polls (NCPP), the leading association of public opinion pollsters, and the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR), the leading professional organization of public opinion and survey research professionals in the U.S., have adopted disclosure standards to insure that consumers of polls can better judge the findings and accuracy of poll results.Exit Polls: What You Should Know 2006
Mark Blumenthal, a veteran pollster and the editor and publisher of Pollster.com, provides a detailed explanation of how exit polls were conducted for the 2006 election. http://www.pollster.com/blogs/exit_polls_what_you_should_kno_1.phpFocus Groups: What They’re Not
Pollster Mark Blumenthal discusses the advantages and limitations of focus groups.More Questions About Polls?
The following websites contain additional information about polling methods and practices:www.pollster.com
www.aapor.org
www.newsu.org (on-line course)
