1. Online Survey, Best Kept Secret
Definition
Survey, in statistics, a method of collecting data in
which people are asked to answer a number of
questions (usually in the form of a questionnaire). An
opinion poll is an example of a survey. The reliability of
a survey's results depends on whether the sample of
people from which the information has been collected is
free from bias and sufficiently large.
Early Pioneer of Survey
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George Gallup (1901-1984), American public opinion analyst and statistician. George Horace
Gallup was born in Jefferson, Iowa, and educated at the University of Iowa. He was head of the
journalism department at Drake University (1929-1931), professor of journalism and advertising
at Northwestern University (1931-1932), and professor at the Pulitzer School of Journalism,
Columbia University (1935-1937).
In 1935 he founded and became director of the American Institute for Public Opinion, and in 1936
he established the British Institute of Public Opinion. Gallup was a pioneer in the use of statistical
methods for measuring the interest of readers in the features and advertisements of magazines
and newspapers and for determining public opinion on general issues.
He extended his research to include the reactions of radio audiences and founded the Audience
Research Institute in 1939. He directed research for many organizations, won numerous awards,
and wrote several books. He is best known for the Gallup poll, public opinion surveys on politics.
General Acceptability.
Opinion polls are generally accepted as useful tools by business, political organizations, the mass
media, and government as well as in academic research. Hundreds of public opinion polling firms
operates around the world. Best known in the U.S. are the organizations, such as the Gallup Poll,
American consumer opinion and Harris Poll, the findings of which regularly appear in major

2. newspapers.
In business, polls are used to test consumers' preferences and to discover what it is about a
product that gives it appeal. Responses to commercial polls aid in planning marketing and
advertising strategies and in making changes in a product to increase its sales.
In politics, polls are used to obtain information about voters' attitudes toward issues and
candidates, to put forward candidates with winning potential, and to plan campaigns. Polling
organizations have also been successful in predicting the outcome of elections. In addition, by
polling voters on Election Day, it is often possible to determine the probable winner even before
the voting booths close.
Agencies use quantitative research to determine a final
Course of action. This type of research uses close-ended questions in which answers are selected
from a set list. This enables the researcher to determine the exact percentage of people who
answered yes or no to a question or the exact percentage choosing answer a, b, or c.
One of the most common quantitative research techniques is the survey in which researchers use
a questionnaire to gain information from a large group of people, called a sample. Statistical
studies show that if the sample is large enough, about 1,000 people, and is representative of a
particular group (for example, working mothers who buy disposable diapers
Then the findings from the sample are considered true, or statistically valid, and can be extended
to the entire group of consumers in that category. The findings provided by quantitative research
are therefore conclusive in a way that qualitative research cannot be.
Newspapers, magazines, radio, and television are heavy users of public opinion polling
information, especially political information that helps to predict elections or gauge the popularity
of government officials and candidates. The public's attitude toward various social, economic,
and international issues is also considered newsworthy.
Governments use opinion polls to tap public sentiment about issues of interest. In addition,
government agencies use polling methodology to determine unemployment rates, crime rates,
and other social and economic indicators.
Polls have been employed extensively in academic research, particularly in the social sciences,
where they have been proven over the years.
Procedures

3. Public opinion polling involves procedures to draw a representative sample of the population
under study. If, for example, one is studying the attitudes of all adults in the U.S., the survey
organization would seek to draw up a list of the entire adult population of the country and then
select at random a sample to be surveyed.
When proper techniques are used and the sample is large enough-1000 to 1500 people-the
results obtained are likely to be very close to the results one would get if the entire population
were surveyed. Thus, if 60 percent of the sample says it approves of the president's policies,
statistical theory shows that if the entire population were surveyed, the probability is 95 percent
that between 58 to 62 percent of the people would express the same approval as the sample.
The criterion of excellence in a sample is representative, not size.
Sampling is vital to the validity of an opinion poll. In practice, however, sampling can be a
complicated procedure involving a great deal of estimation and guesswork. The population to be
surveyed usually cannot be precisely enumerated. Efforts must be made to break down the
population into sampling units of approximately equal size. A certain amount of interviewer
discretion is necessary, and complications arise when a proposed respondent is not at home, has
moved, or is unwilling to be interviewed. Often only about two-thirds of the intended respondents
are actually interviewed and give valid responses. When mail questionnaires are used, problems
of no response are higher.
Great care must be used when fashioning the questionnaire or interview schedule, and testing
the questions before using them in the field is always advisable. Ideally, questions should be
short, clear, direct, and easily comprehended. Apart from such an obvious necessity as trying to
avoid bias, many subtle problems arise in framing a question.
A word or phrase, for example, may mean different things to different people. In making a
question simple enough to be understood by everyone, the issue may be so oversimplified that it
has no meaning to the more sophisticated respondent. Sometimes the order in which questions
are asked can affect the response. In addition, the tone or wording of the question may alter the
measured response:
A study once found that the percentage of the public in favor of "forbidding" speeches against
democracy was 16 points lower than the percentage in favor of "not allowing" such speeches.
Other problems can be traced to interviewer effects. Age, sex, class, or racial differences
between the respondent and the interviewer can sometimes affect the respondent's answer.
Once the opinion data have been gathered, the analyst must seek to find meaning in the results,
keeping in mind the problems of sampling variability, question-wording biases, and interviewer

4. effects. The results are tabulated and analyzed using various statistical techniques to determine
patterns. Much successful analysis involves comparison: comparing subgroups of the population
as they react to the same question; comparing the results of surveys conducted at different times
to discover opinion trends; and comparing the responses to different questions.
Because of comparison-based analysis, the survey often is divided into small subgroups for
comparison-for instance, educated, politically active women with educated, politically active men.
Criticisms of Public Opinion
Criticisms of public opinion research come from a variety of sources. Many people simply are not
convinced that the opinions of a small sample of the population are a viable representation of the
opinions of the whole. On this matter, however, the polling agencies can point to the science of
statistics and also to decades of experience from which it can be shown, for example, that the
same question asked on two different sample surveys at the same time will almost always
generate similar results.
Other criticisms deal with sample procedures that, for reasons of economy or expediency,
sometimes use outdated population data or make compromises with rigorous statistical
requirements.
Even assuming that the basic poll data are valid, analysis of the data may be casual and
superficial. In some cases, the raw data are simply presented as the public's "opinion" on an
issue without deep and careful analysis to probe nuance and possible bias.
The subtle influence of variations in question wording on the measured response is often ignored.
In the political area, criticism sometimes focuses on the appropriateness of opinion polling, rather
than on its validity.
It is argued that elected officials may be too willing to act on what a poll says their constituents
think rather than deciding the issues on their merits. Some experts believe that polls may
influence voters to favor certain political candidates who seem to be enjoying a notable
popularity at the moment.
The information that a certain candidate is far ahead in the polls may discourage people from
voting at all or encourage them to vote for that candidate and thus may affect the results of the
election.
The importance of opinion survey base on valid statics data and careful analysis cannot be over
emphasize hence it covers all aspects of our lives right from the time when survey taking was

5. introduces a tools for measuring public perception on all aspect of human endeavor by the
founding fathers and even now.
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