Category Books

The Voter's Guide to Election Polls »

Authors: Paul J. Lavrakas
ISBN-13: 9780742536111, ISBN-10: 0742536114
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Date Published: April 2004
Edition: (Non-applicable)

Author Biography: Paul J. Lavrakas

Book Synopsis

Right up to election day many polls showed Kerry leading Bush by a significant margin, and early exit polling confirmed this misapprehension. Why were the polls so wrong and what does it mean to _be ahead_ in the polls? How ephemeral are these leads at different stages of the campaign? Who sponsors the polls? How are they conducted? What do they mean? For the third presidential election running, Michael W. Traugott and Paul J. Lavrakas give voters everything they need to know about election polls and why it matters that we understand them. If statistics are worse than lies, just think what misreading the polls can do!

	Introduction
1	What are polls and surveys? : and why are they conducted?	1
2	What are election polls? : how are they conducted?	9
3	How do political candidates and organizations use poll data?	29
4	How do news organizations collect and report poll data?	40
5	Why do pollsters use samples?	51
6	How are questionnaires put together?	71
7	How do interviews take place?	92
8	How do media organizations analyze polls?	108
9	How can I evaluate published poll results?	120
10	What are some common problems and complaints about polls?	129
	Epilogue	141
App. A	Standards for disclosing information about the methodology of public polls	143
App. B	Sample tolerances (sampling errors) for samples of different sizes	153
	Glossary	155
	Index	183
	About the authors	195