A public opinion poll is a scientifically sound way to feel the pulse of the public. While no one thinks that modern polling is perfect, close students of the field believe that properly conducted polls are much closer to the truth than older, less-scientific ways of feeling out the popular mood.
Politicians, business leaders and journalists are all deeply dependent on public opinion polls to help them understand what their constituents are thinking and to help them make decisions. Without them, we would be back in the days of “man on the street” interviews and newspaper tally sheets.
There are many different organizations that conduct surveys to measure public opinion: private survey companies, university research centers and even some news outlets. In addition, many government departments conduct their own polling. All of these organizations have different methods to collect their data, and it is important to know how the information you are looking at was collected to evaluate its credibility.
Some critics allege that there is intentional bias in the way in which pollsters shape and word questions. This is often more of an issue in authoritarian regimes where people fear retaliation for expressing dissenting opinions, and in which state media shapes what the public hears about the issues being discussed.
Some critics also argue that the results of polls can be affected by “bandwagon effect” – voters may see that their preferred candidate is leading in the polls and join the bandwagon, skewing the true results. Some surveys are also vulnerable to response bias – respondents may not be honest with interviewers, or they may give answers that do not reflect their true beliefs. This can be caused by the detailed wording of questions, or because they are rushed and under pressure to finish answering the questions before the interview ends.
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