Most news media are "data rich but analysis poor" when it comes to election polling. Since election polls clearly have the power to influence campaigns and election postmortems, it is important that "spin" not take precedence over significance in the reporting of poll results. In this volume, experts in the media and in academe challenge the conventional approaches that most news media take in their poll-based campaign coverage. The book reports new research findings on news coverage of recent presidential elections and provides a myriad of examples of how journalists and news media executives can improve their analysis of poll data, thereby better serving our political processes.

Presidential Polls And The News Media

Politics & Social Sciences

Lavrakas, Paul J.

Miller, Peter V

Traugott, Michael

Social Sciences

Westview Press

Politics & Government

The Voter's Guide to Election Polls

<p>Everything you need to know about election polls can be found in this compact, conversational, and current volume. When it comes to tapping the public’s opinion on candidates and issues at the ballot box, the stakes are high. Acclaimed scholars Michael W. Traugott and Paul J. Lavrakas—who also have regularly conducted polls, not just studied them—cover the latest technologies used for data collection and data analysis, including internet polls, as well as how polls are used in campaigns and media organizations.<br />
In straightforward language and an accessible question-and-answer format, the authors cover issues such as: How do political candidates and organizations use poll data? How do news organizations collect and report polls? Why do pollsters use samples? Can internet polls really reflect a representative swath of the population? They also examine common problems and complaints about polls, such as the increasing use of “push polls” and whether polls can impact how citizens vote. Their decades of experience and insight not only answer the nuts and bolts questions, but most importantly, why it all matters in American democracy.</p>

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

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