Polling and the public
Subtitle: what every citizen should know
By: Herbert Asher
Edition: 8th ed.
Publisher: CQ Press
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Washington, D.C
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 298
ISBN-13: 9781604266061
Subjects: Public opinion; Public opinion polls
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Polling and the public. The importance of polls -- The pervasiveness of polls -- Commissioned polls -- FRUGging, SUGging, and pseudopolls -- The citizen as a consumer of polls -- Citizens' views of polls -- Polling and democracy -- Exercises -- The problem of nonattitudes. An example of nonattitudes -- The use of screening questions -- Nonattitudes and the middle position in survey questions -- Response instability and nonattitudes -- Implications for democracy and public policy -- Conclusion -- Exercises -- Wording and context of questions. Question wording -- Question order and context -- Conclusion -- Exercises -- Sampling techniques. Nonprobability sampling -- Sampling designs -- Sample size and sampling error -- Total versus actual sample size -- Response rates -- Weighting the sample -- Conclusion -- Exercises -- Interviewing and data collection procedures. Methods of collecting polling information -- Interviewer effects in public opinion polling -- Internet polling -- Conclusion -- Exercises -- The media and the polls. Standards for reporting results -- Substantive interpretation of polls -- Media, polls, and the news reporting emphasis -- Conclusion -- Exercises -- Polls and elections. Sponsors of election polls -- Types of election polls -- Uses of polls by candidates -- Polls in the presidential selection process -- When and why election predictions are wrong -- How preelection polls affect voters -- Conclusion -- Exercises -- Analyzing and interpreting polls. Choosing items to analyze -- Examining trends with polling data -- Examining subsets of respondents -- Interpreting poll results -- When polls conflict: some final thoughts -- Exercises -- Polling and democracy. How to evaluate polls: a summary -- Polls and their effect on the political system -- Conclusion -- Exercise.