RQ - opinon polls

Question 1

what are the polling agencies which can be considered reliable - their work is often used by major media outlets and governments

Answer 1

• ipsos mori
• yougov
• survation
• ICM
• comres
• populus

Question 2

why can polling agencies be argued as reliable sources of information

Answer 2

professional polling agencies are expected to use sampling techniques that make sure that they survey a microcosm of society, meaning that people that they ask should look like the population of the country as a whole with correct proportions of sexes, genders, ethnic minorities, age ranges, able and disabled, social classes, etc.

Question 3

why can polling agencies be argued as unreliable sources of information

Answer 3

in recent years opinion polls have been discredited when predicting how people will vote in general elections. for the last 2 elections, most opinion polls have not been able to predict the results. this is because people are not always honest when replying to them, so results cannot always be relied upon

Question 4

what questions should you think of when looking at the reliability of an opinion poll

Answer 4

• how and when was the poll conducted
• who was interviewed
• how were they chosen
• who sponsored or paid for it
• what questions were asked
• you never know what questions were asked that were not reported

Question 5

what does a polling agency that you have never heard of mean for the reliabilty of the poll

Answer 5

its low reliability because you dont know if they have used approved sampling techniques

Question 6

what are the three polling companies you know use approved sampling techniques

Answer 6

ipsos mori, yougov and savantacomres

Question 7

what is an important consideration to take into account when looking at a poll

Answer 7

whether it shows what the question was asked because different wordings can mean very different results are being produced