Polling Unpacked : The History, Uses and Abuses of Political Opinion Polls.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Pack, Mark.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Public opinion polls.

Public opinion.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (353 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

London : Reaktion Books, Limited, 2022.

Summary:

From a political-polling expert, an eye-opening--and hilarious--look at the origins of polls and how they have been used and abused ever since.Opinion polls dominate media coverage of politics, especially elections. But how do the polls work? How do we tell the good from the bad? And in light of recent polling disasters, can we trust them at all?Polling UnPacked gives us the full story, from the first rudimentary polls in the nineteenth century, through attempts by politicians to ban polling in the twentieth century, to the very latest techniques and controversies from the last few years. Equal parts enlightening and hilarious, the book requires no prior knowledge of polling or statistics to understand. But even hardened pollsters will find much to enjoy, from how polling has been used to help plan military invasions to why an exhausted interviewer was accidentally instrumental in inventing exit polls.Written by a former political pollster and the creator of Britain's foremost polling-intention database, Polling UnPacked reveals which opinion polls to trust, which to ignore, and which, frankly, to laugh at. It will change the way we see political coverage forever.

Contents:

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Contents

Introduction

1. The First Political Polls

2. How Political Polls Work

3. The Rights and Wrongs of Polling Questions

4. Is It All about Voting Intention?

5. Other Types of Polls

6. Polling Gets It Right

7. Polling Gets It Wrong

8. Regulating Opinion Polls

9. Alternatives to Opinion Polls

10. Even Good Polls Mislead

11. Judging Polling Firms

12. Making Sense of the Polls

Thank You

References

Further Reading

Acknowledgements

Index.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Part of the metadata in this record was created by AI, based on the text of the resource.

Other Format:

Print version: Pack, Mark Polling Unpacked

ISBN:

9781789145687

OCLC:

1302324067