OVERVIEW… WHAT’S INVOLVED?  Sample Size  Sampling Randomization  Demographics **  Methodology **  Question **  Sampling Error (calculate?) **

DEMOGRAPHICS  Who will you interview/try to interview?  What questions (and how many) will you ask them?  Fewer increases accuracy, especially in a smaller sample  More allows for more nuanced analysis

METHODOLOGY   Sample questionnaire & make own spreadsheet  Will they record selves or group reads and records  Language  Who will approach?  Who will record?

QUESTIONS  Topic  Wording—biased wording slants opinions…  Are school lunches bad? Should school lunches be improved? Do you like school lunches?  What area are you interested in? (Beware of measuring “non- opinions”)  How many choices will you give?  Fewer increases accuracy, especially in a smaller sample  More allows for more nuanced analysis

MARGIN OF ERROR  Compare and contrast polls  Some survey results that get reported are based on a “poll of polls,” where multiple polls are averaged together. Prominent sites that engage in this practice are FiveThirtyEight (fivethirtyeight.com), Real Clear Politics ( ) and the Cook Political Report (