From Straw Poll to Opinion Poll
Modern opinion polling has been with us since the late 1930s and is now used around the world to help forecast elections and to do market research.
Today, we can鈥檛 imagine an election without an opinion poll gauging public opinion on who鈥檚 leading, who鈥檚 won a debate or who鈥檚 more popular with a specific group of voters. Even our favourite chocolate bars and footballers are subject to a poll. But how did straw polls evolve into the scientific number crunching we know now? What is their purpose and impact? How differently are they used around the world? And just how reliable are they?
Bridget Kendall is joined by economist and chairman of Gallup Pakistan Dr Ijaz Shafi Gilani; Scott Keeter, senior survey advisor for the Pew Research Center in Washington; and Sir John Curtice from the University of Strathclyde.
Picture: American President Harry S Truman smiles and waves to the excited Kansas City crowd after hearing the news that he had won the United States elections in 1948 and retained the Presidency, despite of what many polls had predicted, Credit: Keystone, Getty Images.
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Gauging Public Opinion
Duration: 01:00
Broadcasts
- Sat 31 Mar 2018 19:06GMT麻豆社 World Service except Australasia, East and Southern Africa, News Internet & West and Central Africa
- Tue 3 Apr 2018 08:06GMT麻豆社 World Service except News Internet
- Tue 3 Apr 2018 17:06GMT麻豆社 World Service Australasia
- Tue 3 Apr 2018 23:06GMT麻豆社 World Service except News Internet
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