Evaluating studies
Review a variety of polls on the site.
Choose a poll to report on that closely aligns to your field of study or area of professional interest.
Review the information in the Survey Methods section of the article. This section details how the study was conducted. Also, study all information contained in additional links at the bottom of this section. You will use this information to complete your assessment.
Then, answer the following questions about the Gallup poll you selected:
What was the purpose of the poll? Write a brief summary. Include the title and link to the article within your summary.
What were the population and sample? Why is this sample appropriate for the population? What was the sample size? Was the sample size large enough to reflect the opinions of the population?
Were the results parameters or statistics? Why?
What type of sampling technique was used (for example, stratified, clustered, random, convenience, or systematic)? Why was this technique used? How were the subjects contacted? Was this method appropriate?
What was the confidence interval and margin of error? Interpret what the confidence interval means as it relates to the context of the survey.
What were the exact questions asked? Do you think the wording of the questions influenced the participants’ responses?
Did you find any evidence of bias in the poll? If so, describe the source of the bias. If not, how was bias avoided?
