Polling Matters: Why Leaders Must Listen to the Wisdom of the People [Hardcover]

Frank Newport (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 30, 2004

Polling applies scientific principles to understanding and anticipating the insights, emotions, and attitudes of society. The Gallup Organization reveals: what polls really are and how they are conducted; why the information polls provide is so vitally important to modern society today; how this valuable information can be used more effectively, and more.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Between now and the November election, public opinion polls will be all but unavoidable. Those who question their value may find this plainspoken defense by the editor-in-chief of the Gallup Poll illuminating. Newport is an effective communicator who clarifies the process that distills from the opinions of a mere 1,000 interviewees an accurate reflection of the opinions of tens of millions of Americans. Newport believes that polls reflect the country's collective wisdom, a wisdom politicians should heed not merely to court votes but to reap the benefits of the diverse and complex American experience. The author tackles each of the common criticisms of polls, such as that politicians who pay too much attention to polls fail to lead; that citizens are too uneducated to offer useful opinions; and that basing policies on polls would result in a "tyranny of the majority." Jackson's defense is mostly convincing. His most glaring failure is to adequately address the effect on opinions of false advertising, political propaganda and other sources of misinformation. Newport's description of how polls work is filled with professional argot that gives his explanations an aura of scientific respectability and credibility. Readers will come away understanding why and how polls work, but some will not be as convinced as Newport of their value as a policy tool.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Frank Newport lives in Pennington, New Jersey.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (July 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446530646
• ISBN-13: 978-0446530644
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 1 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,147,791 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating book, October 12, 2004

By 

MotherLodeBeth "MotherLodeBeth" (Sierras of California) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Polling Matters: Why Leaders Must Listen to the Wisdom of the People (Hardcover)

This is a fascinating book for me simply because the author nails so many aspects of polls, squarely on the head, especially those polls where the person being asked questions may be to uneducated, uninformed and is actually answering questions based on what they have heard about other poll results, thus a mob rule mentality. The methodology of how he does polls and how others do polls was intriguing. Alas I remember the adage opinion ... everyone has one.... but how was it formed and does it have real value? Having been polled on a few times I wondered how the questions were chosen and worried when answering them that there was a lot of grey area and few questions actually had a yes or no or one size fits all answer.