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The PollsObjectives
Standards NCSS Themes:
IV: Individual Development and Identity Materials Student Handout: CNN's Guidelines for Polling Suggested time This lesson should take approximately two class periods of 45-50 minutes each, and one homework assignment. You may want to provide additional time to allow students to research additional polls. Procedures Introduction: Journalists ask questions to get information. Polls do just that; they ask people questions. Polls have become a very important tool in elections. Candidates conduct polls to determine where they stand in the ratings against their opponents. They can also use them to better understand public opinion so that they can develop a message that appeals to key constituents or to create support for their positions. The news media uses polls to support a particular angle for a story, to report voter opinion to their subscribers or to simply cover candidate approval ratings. But while modern scientific polls have become fairly accurate, there are several factors that could bias, or affect, the accuracy of polls. For example, how the question is stated, when it is asked, whether it is scientific or unscientific. In this lesson, students will learn which questions they need to ask to determine the accuracy and relevance of a poll. Day One: Understanding the Mechanics of Polls 1.Ask students to define the term poll with respect to public opinion. Have students discuss what they know about how a poll is conducted. Discuss the purpose of polling: Who conducts polls? Why are they done? How are polls used? 2.Distribute the Backgrounder: Understanding Public Opinion Polls. Review student understanding with the following questions: Historically, why and how were the Literary Digest poll of
1936 and the Gallup Poll of 1948 flawed? What lessons
about polling were learned from these two polling
mistakes? 3.Show Video Clip: Science of Public Opinion and follow up with the discussion questions and activity from the March 21, 2000 CNN NEWSROOM classroom guide. 4.Divide students into groups of 3 or 4 and have each group
analyze one poll from CNN's AllPolitics
Each group should answer the following questions about their poll: Homework: Distribute the following to students: Student Handout: CNN's Guidelines for Polling 20 Questions Journalists Should Ask About Polls Day Two: Critiquing Public Opinion Polls Introduction: Now that students are familiar with why and how polls are conducted, as critical viewers of the media, they will need to know how to differentiate among the various polls. 1.Review homework assignment. 2.Once again, divide students into groups of 3 or 4 and distribute a recent poll to each group. Students should analyze each poll according to the CNN rules and the Public Agenda 20 Questions. In their final analysis, they should determine: "Is this a poll voters should trust?" 3.Now examine the "polls" offered on this Your Choice. Your Voice. site. Based on the CNN Rules and the Public Agenda 20 Questions critique the polls posted on Your Choice. Your Voice. Do they adhere to the criteria for a scientific poll? Why or why not? How would you revise them to meet the polling criteria? (Note: These "polls" were created to take a quick vote on where students, participating in the CNN Your Choice. Your Voice. campaign, stood on issues related to the curriculum. We left the term "poll" to serve as a good lesson on the importance of being a critical viewer.) 4.Collect several polls from newspapers, Internet and television news. First, have students determine if it is a scientific or non-scientific poll. Then ask students the following questions: If you were a reporter, how would you write about these poll results? What would your headline be? If you were a candidate, how would you use this poll information? What would the focus of your speech be? If you were a voter, how would you use this information? Would it affect your vote? ASSESSMENT As a wrap up to the unit, students should create a Q&A for voters who want to know how they should interpret the polls they see and read during an election. This brief introduction to polling should include a definition of polls, a who, what, where, when and why of polls, and a "Top Ten questions to ask before you let a poll result influence your vote." INTERNET RESOURCES Public Agenda is a nonpartisan, nonprofit public opinion research and citizen education organization based in New York City. It was founded in 1975 by social scientist and author Daniel Yankelovich and former Secretary of State Cyrus Vance. The Gallup Organization is one of the world's largest management consulting firms. Gallup's core expertise is in measuring and understanding human attitudes and behavior. Internet Statistical Computing Center charts national polling information for the upcoming election. iBallot.Com is the world's first electronic Internet voting system. iBallot is designed to permit organizations to set up and run elections, surveys or other voting activities over the Internet without the intervention of any third party. Polling Report is an independent, nonpartisan resource on trends in American public opinion. |
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