Polling as a News-Gathering Tool

Abstract

The use of public opinion research by news organizations has graduated from the publication of commercial syndicated polls to the widespread adoption of social science research methods as a reporting tool. As many as 500 to 600 news papers are conducting polls and other quantitative research projects on a regular or occasional basis. In-house polling appears to be established as a new journalistic genre, and those working in the field expect it to grow in both use and sophistication. Newsroom research activities have gone far beyond the traditional preelection preference poll to include both attitude and behavioral studies on a range of public affairs issues and sociological topics. Critics, however, say some media research efforts are conceptually and methodologically poor, and they worry about the negative effects on society of the uncritical use and presentation of flawed public opinion data. Journalists, nevertheless, generally welcome the power offered by public opinion research.

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