[EAS] Polling 101

[pjk]

Subject:   Polling 101

FYI, in the public interest.  --PJK
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(from  NSDL Scout Reports October 08, 2004)
<http://scout.wisc.edu/Reports/NSDL/MET/2004/met-041008.php>

Roper Center: Polling 101

http://www.ropercenter.uconn.edu/pom/polling101.html 

The U.S. Presidential election season seems like a good time review
the basics on polling. The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research
at the University of Connecticut is "the largest library of public
opinion data in the world." (See also Scout Report for Social
Science, December 1, 1998.) This section of the website gives
visitors a short lesson on public opinion polling. The Polling 101
page reviews Sampling, Total Survey Error, Reading Tables, and
provides links to other pages with additional information on
polling. A final section talks about the Role of Polls in
Policymaking based on a 2001 phone survey conducted for the Henry J.
Kaiser Family Foundation in collaboration with Public Perspective
magazine. Visitors can also browse through the Public Opinion
Matters section of the website to view recent polls on economic
issues, education, technology, and more. The full database of polls,
however, is accessible only through paid membership.