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| President Harry S. Truman holds up an incorrect headline after winning the 1948 presidential election. |
In class, we have been learning a lot about polls. We have learned about their success, from increasing the youth vote to correctly identifying the next U.S. president before official vote count. However, we have also been learning about their flaws. They could have a bad sampling or manipulative wording in their question. I encourage you to check out
this article by the New York times (also linked below), which details different opinions about the title of this post. Some say that they "can give people a stronger voice," but others are not so convinced. George Bishop, an independent survey research consultant and a retired professor of political science at the University of Cincinnati, claims that they mislead and give the "illusion of public opinion."
Jill Lepore, a writer for The New Yorker, claims: "from the late nineteen-nineties to 2012, twelve hundred polling organizations conducted nearly thirty-seven thousand polls by making more than three billion phone calls" but also shares that, "a 2013 study—a poll—found that three out of four Americans suspect polls of bias." If polls are so untrusted, why are they so popular? What do you think?
What is your opinion on the following questions:
- Do you agree with the statement: "Polling Undermines Democracy?" Why or why not?
- What makes a poll biased? Do you trust polls?
Sources:
