1. Measuring Public Opinion  How do we measure the public’s opinion? The best measure…Public Opinion Polls: Method that attempts to collect information by asking people questions.

2. Constructing a Poll  A Pollsters Goal… Gather a Sample: The sample is a representative slice of the population. Most pollsters recommend using a random sample, where randomly selected people are interviewed for the polls.

3. Polling Project

4. Step 1 1) Write up four questions from any of the following five categories.  The Economy  Education  Environment  Politics/Interests 2) Using your four questions, survey ten different people. Get a signature from each person you survey.

5. Step 2 3) Using the data collected from the survey make a pie chart, line graph, or bar graph to represent the results. (The easiest way to do this is to make a chart or graph for each of the four questions)

6. Step 3 4) Finally, write up a 2-3 sentence summary of the results of each of the four questions.

7. PAST EXAMPLES Examples-  An example of a bad question: How do you feel about President Obama? A) Good B) OK C) Terrible D) Fine (This is a bad question because it is too broad and the possible answers are too vague)  A couple examples of good questions are: 1) How do you feel about the job President Bush is doing in Iraq? A) Terrible B) OK C) Good D) Great 2) Would you feel safer if teachers were allowed to carry guns? Rate your level of safety on a scale of 1 to 4, with 1 being the least safe and 4 being very safe. A) 1 B) 2 C) 3 D) 4

8. 1) How confident are you that President Obama will be able to stimulate an increase in American job creation? A) Completely ConfidentB) Moderately Confident C) No Confidence

9. Summary  Regarding the issue of confidence in President Obama’s ability to stimulate job growth in the United States, no clear majority exists. Most of those surveyed/polled are only moderately confident that job growth can occur under President Obama’s leadership.

10. Preparing Valid Questions  The way that a poll question is worded is very important. The wording of a question affects the outcome of the poll. Try to avoid using “loaded” or emotionally charged words.