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The Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics
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Polls, Polls, and More Polls

An Evaluation of How Public Opinion Polls Are Reported in Newspapers

Reed L. Welch

West Texas A&M University, rlwelch{at}mail.wtamu.edu

This article examines the information the news media provide about public opinion polls. To do this, the study uses standards established by the American Association for Public Opinion Researchers and the National Council on Public Polls to evaluate how polls about the presidential election were reported in four major national newspapers and four smaller newspapers in the fall of 2000. The study found that some newspapers do better at providing information about polls than others, almost all articles do not disclose important information about polls, a newspaper does a better job at providing information about polls sponsored by the newspaper itself than it does about outside polls, and large, national newspapers do no better at reporting information about polls than smaller, more locally oriented newspapers. The article concludes that the media do not disclose the "minimal essential information" for the public to determine a poll’s reliability and validity and that it would be in the best interest of polling organizations, newspapers, and the public for more information to be provided about the polls that are made public.

The Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics, Vol. 7, No. 1, 102-114 (2002)
DOI: 10.1177/1081180X0200700107
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