Art and Science of Polling

Griffin Peek

5-7-14

Mrs. Lawson

History and science of polling

Figure 1- This is  a example of a poll on Gallup when president Obama was elected

            In the United States we are known as a country that everyone has the right to vote and a voice in the government. Polling was a way that associates of companies or people running political campaigns can see what most people want and what they support. Now a day’s polling is changing, it originally started in newspapers and in magazines for the people to see and then they can send in their vote or just so people will know whose representing what. Yet now new websites like soctrative and Gallup are having new ways that people can poll and learn about what is going on and who it doing what.

Figure 2- This is a Opinion poll of what people

 see as there political party

Through our centuries of knowledge of 

technology and our technology based age is now using something that we as humans in the twenty first century rely on, almost every day, the internet.

            Polling is much different than it was in the 19^th century. The way that interest groups want to see what the public knows or how they feel about a certain topic. Through this they would put articles in newspapers and magazines so that local audiences can show their preference and how they feel about the subject. A good example is in 1828, the supporters of Andrew Jackson had a poll and rallies and gatherings for Jackson’s supporters. This was put through newspapers. But the science of polling was introduced when manufactures start to put survey polls in the newspapers to see what people think of their product. But starting in the 20^th century opinion polls start to become popular, and in newspapers and magazines they become customary. But in the 21^st century opinion polls are now starting to advance with technology. 

Figure 4- Gallup is more of a political website but it

 contains polls and ideas in the country

             In the 21^st century we are the century of technology. Today people rely on the internet for almost anything and new websites such as Socrative and Gallup- make polling options very easy for the participant and the representative for the subject of the poll.

Figure 3- This is George Gallup, which 

Gallup. com is made after

Gallup is a website that is named after a man that was one of the first men to study the popular voting field. In 1936,  George Gallup and his employees correctly predicted Franklin Roosevelt’s win the presidential election.  The new polling technique that he used was called “sampling.” He did this by studying a small percentage of people, thus giving them a better generalization of who was going to win. Gallup was a pioneer in the polling industry and he helped it get to where it is to this day and thus a web site about him. 

Figure 5- This is the socrative logo

 which teachers are using to do online polling

 for students.

       

     Another way that people are polling in this century is a website called socrative, which is an online polling technique. A popular way that a group of people in the community is using it is teachers in the classroom. Teachers are soon realizing that to get students to be more corporate and when they use the internet, not the usual when the teacher asks the student to vote or how they feel about a subject. The answer is not answered until they look around the room to see what there piers are voting for so that they don’t seem like the odd one out of the class, but they are answering the surveys and the questions to how they feel. The teachers are realizing that when they incorporate technology into the process then everything becomes anonymous and the feedback is more honest and all around better data. This can apply to how polling is today. When you go to a online poll it’s always anonymous or when you go to vote they have separate spaces that each person can vote so that everyone has a honest say and that they can speak their voice.

            Polling has come a long way in the many centuries that this country has let its occupants vote for its government, and has a voice in the government. It first started form newspapers and magazines trying to get the word out, to websites that have polls on them, containing the voice of the political parties and manufactures that give you a chance to voicing your opinion. To me the idea of art and science of polling all started on how the representatives of political or manufactures can get the world of the people and what they want.

Works Cited

 ASCD. ASCD, n.d. Web. 2014. <http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar14/vol71/num06/Using-Polling-Technologies-to-Close-Feedback-Gaps.aspx>. This was one of the most helpful websites when it came to learning about polling today and helped me understand that with the technology savvy world that we live in today its easier for people of the younger age to get there opinion in rather than the older age group only. 

 The Bulletin. the bulletin, n.d. Web. 2014. <http://www.bendbulletin.com/news/1382389-151/the-art-and-science-of-the-opinion-poll>. This web site contains how politicians are starting to use other ways to express what they need to get across to the public. They are starting to use cell phones or the internet to get the word out to the people. 

 Gallup. Gallup inc., n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2014. <http://www.gallup.com/poll/101872/How-does-Gallup-Polling-work.aspx>. Gallup is a website that has been in the political business for a long time is one of the sources that many people use to see what is going on in the government and which politicians is supporting which cause and also contains some opinion polls. 

 Pearson. Pearson Education, n.d. Web. 2010. <http://wps.ablongman.com/long_sobel_pto_1/40/10417/2666796.cw/content/index.html>. The history of popular polls and how polling started in America. this was one of the most helpful sources when it came to my research of the history and some back ground of polling in early america. 

People, Politics, and Policy. Glenview: Pearson Education, 2011. Print. Vol. 15 of Governemtn in America. This was my only book source but it gave me a new look into the way that polling was done and gave me a new knowledge on phone polling. 

 SAIM. society ofr industrial art and mathematics, n.d. Web. 2014. <http://www.siam.org/news/news.php?id=270>. This was my way to learn about election polling and how it works. With the various techniques that you can poll and why groups do different techniques.