5 Research Lessons from Election Season Polling

During a presidential election year there is no escaping the flurry of public opinion polling and the intense scrutiny that surveys get from the media. But love it or hate it, there are excellent reasons to pay close attention to this year’s political polling.

Pollsters are grappling with the thorniest issues measuring peoples’ attitudes and behaviors amidst the most rapid change in technology and communications that we’ve seen in the last thirty years. They face the same issues that all market research professionals struggle with day in and day out, under the glare of spotlights, expert criticism, and final validation come Election Day.

Versta Research has just published its Fall 2012 Newsletter which highlights cutting edge insights about data-driven news stories, research methods, questionnaire design, and survey best practices from the flood of this year’s election polls.

Here are 5 Research Lessons from Election Season Polling coming out of the 2012 season.  We hope it gives you a new perspective on the value of political polls, and that it offers some insights to help you in your own work.

—Joe Hopper, Ph.D.