
The Voter's Guide to Election Polls
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
4th Edition
Published on 28. December 2007
Book
Hardback
232 pages
978-0-7425-4716-2 (ISBN)
Description
For the fourth presidential election running, Michael Traugott and Paul 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!
Reviews / Votes
Without a doubt, this is the best treatment of polling and its consequences that has been written in the last forty years. -- Sidney Kraus, Cleveland State University Traugott and Lavrakas provide exceptionally clear, refreshingly concise, and uniformly accurate answers to a series of citizen-inspired questions about the use of polls in election campaigns. -- Thomas E. Mann, The Brookings Institution Traugott and Lavrakas have done an outstanding job in this primer on election polls. Written in clear, easily accessible style, it should be in the required reading list of any undergraduate course that deals with public opinion and polls-and many graduate courses as well. All journalists who report poll results, including those who considering themselves to be highly experienced will find it worth their while to use this guide when reading the poll releases that come across their desks. -- Irving Crespi, author ofPublic Opinion, Polls, and Democracy This guide should help readers become not only more informed consumers of information, but also more informed, involved citizens. Recommended. * CHOICE * Traugott and Lavrakas have written a much-needed election survey primer. It provides a clear and concise exposition of the purposes, practices, and pitfalls of modern polling. -- Andrew Kohut, The Pew Research CenterMore details
Edition
Fourth Edition
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
With dust jacket
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
533 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7425-4716-2 (9780742547162)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Michael W. Traugott is professor and chair of the Department of Communication Studies and senior research scientist in the Center for Political Studies at the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan. Paul J. Lavrakas is former professor of journalism and communication at Northwestern University and Ohio State University and was the founding director of the survey centers at each institution.
Content
Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 What Are Polls and Surveys? And Why Are They Conducted? Chapter 3 What Are Election Polls? How Are They Conducted? Chapter 4 How Do Political Candidates and Organizations Use Poll Data? Chapter 5 How Do News Organizations Collect and Report Poll Data? Chapter 6 Why Do Pollsters Use Samples? Chapter 7 How Are Questionnaires Put Together? Chapter 8 How Do Interviews Take Place? Chapter 9 How Do Media Organizations Analyze Polls? Chapter 10 How Can I Evaluate Published Poll Results? Chapter 11 What Are Some Common Problems and Complaints about Polls? Chapter 12 Epilogue Chapter 13 Appendix A: Standards for Disclosing Information about the Methodology of Public Polls Chapter 14 Appendix B: Sample Tolerances (Sampling Errors) for Samples of Different Sizes Chapter 15 Glossary Chapter 16 Index Chapter 17 About the Authors