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Public Opinion Polls: Coursework

Coursework Instructions:

Politicians and political analysts love to argue about polls. Who's up or down? Do they mean anything? Officials behind in the polls love to point to Harry Truman's 1948 comeback (though a lot has changed since polling back then.)
Your task here is to comment on the two authors assigned this week in the online chapters, Newport and Weissberg. Is polling good or bad for the polity?
The Nitty-Gritty Specifics
FIRST, in no less than a full paragraph (5-7 sentences), address one or more of the questions above.
SECOND, you must respond to at least one of your classmates in a thoughtful paragraph (4-5 sentences).
classmate response : "I believe that political polls play a very big role in elections both to the people and the candidates. Both of the authors provide solid reasoning as to why polls are good or bad. Newport supports the long-held view that the collective judgement of the people is stronger than that of our governing elites. While I do agree with this, polls appear to be plagued by a number of polltakers who do not respond with honesty. Much of Newport’s argument surrounds the usefulness of the data collected and how it could be applied to the decision-making process. In theory, polling goes hand in hand with democracy. Weissberg provides a much different viewpoint on political polling. He details a corrupt industry that runs on both the ignorance of the people and pollsters. In some cases, polls can be done within a certain population or be skewed in a way that gives the impression of positive public opinion for those funding. Pollsters are often excellent in wording questions rather than actually being knowledgeable in the policy. Weissberg also notes that polling is a private industry where everything is negotiated between the pollster and client. Poll details could not be publicized if they do not work in the favor of the client. In the end, citizens are left with little right when it comes to controlling or accessing the polls in any way. Parallel with Weissberg, I most definitely believe that if you’re taking information from a poll, you should understand how it was conducted and who funded it. I think that there are many pros within the industry, however, they can easily be outweighed by many cons."

Coursework Sample Content Preview:

Public Opinion Polls
Author’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Course Code and Name
Professor’s Name
Date

Public Opinion Polls
Answer
Public opinion polls are meant to sway voters’ perceptions about specific candidates during elections. In my opinion, polls are bad for the polity. Despite Harry Truman’s low popularity in polls, his comeback was among the biggest to be experienced in the United States of America (USA). I agree with Weissberg’s perspective that political polling is done in a corrupt industry where the poll outcomes favor their sponsors (Weissberg, 2001). Polls can be manipulated in favor of any candidate since they are meant to affect the psychology of voters. A significant population of people makes their decisions based on poll results. Although Newport makes a good point that polls influence the collective judgment of individuals, poll-takers are not honest in the way they analyze and present the data to people. Moreover, polls are subject to multiple biases since the sample size used might not present members of a particular region appropriately.
Reply
I would want you to elaborate on the importance of the data colle...
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