Public Opinion Polls and Survey Research

A Selective Annotated Bibliography of U. S. Guides & Studies from the 1980s

Graham R. Walden

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2014
• eBook ISBN:
  9781135786311
• Print ISBN:
  9781138984240
• Subtopic: Politics

First Published in 1990. The decade of the 1980s witnessed an increasing use of polls and surveys as well as an expanded research effort into public opinion polls and survey research from the economic, historical, legal, methodological, organizational, and political viewpoints. The purpose of this volume is to provide a resource for practitioners, researchers, students, librarians, and others seeking access to this interdisciplinary literature. Instructional guides, handbooks, reference works, textbooks, research studies, and evaluative and critical studies on public opinion polls and survey research published since 1980 are included in this bibliography.

 

 

1. Reference Sources

 

 

1.1 BIBLIOGRAPHIES

 

1. Berdie, Douglas R., John F. Anderson, and Marsha A. Niebuhr. Questionnaires: Design and Use. 2d ed. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1986. 330p.

The purposes of this volume are to serve as a practical learning tool to teach the design and use of the questionnaire and to stimulate questions in the readers’ minds so that appropriate preparations can be made to accommodate the issues raised. The text is sensitive to the belief that many questions on questionnaires are dependent upon “study-specific” variables. The authors suggest that much of the criticism levied against questionnaires is a product of poor research design or poorly constructed instruments. The first edition of the book was published in 1974. In the same year, the authors opened the survey research firm of Anderson, Niebuhr & Associates, producing reliable and valid data, with response rates in excess of 90 percent. It is suggested that adherence to the principles outlined in the first edition is responsible for their success. The contents have been divided into outline format with subheadings used throughout, enabling quick reference from either the table of contents or the general index. Chapters cover the issues of interview or mail format; design, including a checklist; and ways to stimulate responses. The last chapter analyzes the results. A bibliography of 494 entries follows; it predominately covers the period from the 1970s and includes short annotations (on average about twenty-eight words). About 10 percent of the material covers book literature, and approximately 40 percent covers articles from Public Opinion Quarterly. The other half of the bibliography represents a diverse range of periodical titles. There are four appendixes to the book, followed by an index to the annotated bibliography.

2. Sharma, Prakash C. Public Opinion Polls: A Selected Research Bibliography. Exchange Bibliography, edited by Mary Vance, no. 757. Monticello, IL: Council of Planning Librarians, 1975. lip.

The bibliography, composed of 156 unannotated entries, is divided into two parts: the first covers books and monographs, the second considers articles and periodicals. In the preface, Dr. Sharma, a member of the Department of Sociology at the University of Alabama during the preparation of the publication, advises that the bibliography covers works “published chiefly during 1950–1965.” An analysis of the bibliography reveals that 54 items, or about 33 percent, are from the 1960s, 28 items, or about 18 percent, are from the 1950s, with almost half of the total entries from earlier decades. There are no entries from the 1970s. There are 63 book titles considered (although two entries should have been filed with the articles and periodicals), and 93 articles and periodicals. About 10 percent of the works cited are non-United States—with the actual percentage possibly higher. The bibliography has a number of bibliographic omissions: 57 percent, or 35, of the book titles do not show a place of publication; 23 percent, or 14, of the book titles do not indicate a publisher; and 33 percent of the periodical entries do not indicate pagination. Public Opinion Quarterly is the most frequently cited journal, occurring 28 times, or about 30 percent of the periodicals section of the bibliography. Five other journal titles occurred three or more times: Journalism Quarterly, American Sociological Review, Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Political Science Review, and American Journal of Sociology. (This item is included because it may be the only pre-1980 bibliography available on the subject.)

3. Vance, Mary A. Public Opinion Polls: A Bibliography. Public Administration Series, Bibliography no. P-710. Monticello, IL: Vance Bibliographies, 1981. 6p.

There are 73 items listed in this unannotated bibliography of which 27 are serial title entries. Several reprints are included, with the original year of publication being as follows: 2 from the 1930s; 3 from the 1940s; 2 from the 1950s; and 1 from 1962. The breakdown by year of publication clearly shows that most of the works represented are from the mid- to late-1970s. In detail, the volume includes works in the following categories: 1 from 1937; 2 from 1949; 6 from the 1960s; 17 from 1970 to 1974; 40 from 1975 to 1979; 5 from 1980; and 2 are undated. Although the place of publication is not included, it is evident from the nature of a number of entries that non-United States works have also been included—this encompasses both serial and monographic titles. Of total number of citations listed, 26 include the purchase price as of 1981, suggesting that one of the intended purposes of this bibliography was to be a collection development aid to librarians and perhaps a teachers’ selection tool for classroom texts.

4. White, Anthony G. Survey and Questionnaire Design: A Bibliography. Public Administration Series, Bibliography, P 2021. Monticello, JL: Vance Bibliographies, 1986. 8p.

There are 81 unannotated items in this bibliography. The work is divided into two parts, with the first consisting of items relating to questionnaire design, followed by the survey design items (beginning on page 5). The bibliography is comprised of 22 items from the 1970s (about 25 percent) and 59 items from the 1980s (about 75 percent). In detail, 10 of the questionnaire items are from the 1970s and 12 survey items are from the same period. The 1980s literature is comprised of 31 in the questionnaire section and 28 covering survey design. Overall, 41 items are on questionnaire design, with the remaining 40 covering survey design. The bibliography contains 30 book titles and 51 items from journals. Public Opinion Quarterly appears 22 times. There are 24 other journal titles included, none appearing more than two times. There is only one foreign journal title included. This bibliography is designed to update earlier Vance bibliographies, such as those found in Item Nos. 2 and 3 in this annotated bibliography.

 

 

1.2 DIRECTORIES

 

5. Barry, John M., with Sidebar by Bums W. Roper. “The Roper Center: The World’s Largest Archive of Survey Data.” RSR Reference Services Review 16, nos. 1 and 2 (1988): 41–50.

Barry is the manager of User Services Development at the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research in Storrs, Connecticut. The article in RSR provides an overview of the Center, beginning with a historical perspective, followed by a discussion of the holdings, the user services provided, and the online database called POLL. The balance of the article reviews the costs and mechanisms by which people can gain access to the resources, along with a summary of future plans. Bums W. Roper provides a “Sidebar” on the historical value of poll data. Roper is chairman of the Roper Organization (New York) and the Roper Center. A list labelled “Sidebar 2” provides the names of forty-seven organizations that contribute data to the Roper Center. The list includes references to all the polling organizations known to the general public, along with the significant networks, newspapers, and marketing firms. The Center’s archive of public opinion data contains nearly eleven thousand separate studies conducted in more than seventy-five countries by major survey organizations. No references are included.

6. Surveys, Polls, Censuses & Forecasts Directory: A Guide to Sources of Statistical Studies in the Area of Business, Social Science, Education, Science and Technology. Detroit, MI: Gale Research Company, nos. 1–3, 1983. Issue no. 1 (1–92); Issue no. 2 (93–182); Issue no. 3 (183–265); Cumulative Issue (1–284).

Intended to be an ongoing periodical format with three issues per year and a bound cumulative volume at the end of the year, the title ceased after one year. [An unfavorable review in Choice (April, 1984, page 118) may not have helped to secure the continuance of the title.] Each issue provided an alphabetical listing by title. Individual entries included the name, address, and telephone number of the sponsoring agency, frequency and (where appropriate) the year started, a brief description, geographic coverage, and also the availability of the data. Indexing access is provided through sponsoring agency name and a modest subject index. Each of the three issues contained about four hundred entries.

7. Walden, Graham R. “Public Opinion Polls: A Guide to Accessing the Literature.” RSR Reference Services Review 16, no. 4 (1988): 65–74.

The article provides a guide to the major sources of published polls, including brief annotated bibliographic information to the works available from the Gallup organization, Louis Harris and Associates, the National Opinion Research Center (NORC), Public Opinion, Roper Reports, and other published polls. Short descriptive paragraphs providing company and biographical information accompany each section. One dozen polling indexes and abstracts are described, including the scope of the coverage through a listing of the relevant polling journals indexed. The primary access term(s) used in each resource is given. Online availability is specified where appropriate. An annotated bibliography of fifteen sources from the 1980s is included. The introduction qualified the inclusion of poll results in the article to those that are regularly available at moderate library subscription rates, and that the results are those that have been widely disseminated by the public opinion polling organization. As a mechanism to give scale to the size of polling in the United States, the author cites 1986 data which shows that the top forty-four companies had revenues of more than $1.5 billion. There are twenty-seven references included.

2. Instructional Materials

2.1 EXPLANATORY

8. Asher, Herbert B. Polling and the Public: What Every Citizen Should Know. Washington, DC: CQ Press, a Division of Congressional Quarterly, 1988. 168p.

The basis for this work is that Asher believes polls are not well understood by the general public, and that a reference tool is needed for consumers of public opinion polls to help in evaluating poll methods and merits. The intended audience is not narrowly defined. There are nine chapters, the first of which introduces poll types, their significance, and how citizens view polling. Successive chapters cover nonattitudes, the wording and context of questions, sampling techniques, and interviewing procedures. These chapters review the methodological elements of opinion research with the use of contemporary examples and a number of cartoons. The following chapters deal with the arena of polling with which the general public is most familiar: news reporting of polls and election-time use of polls. Asher proceeds to discuss the analysis and interpretation of polls. The final chapter considers the role of polls in a democratic society and provides a summary of how to evaluate polls. The volume includes 164 references and four pages of subject indexing.

9. Bogart, Leo. Silent Politics: Polls and the Awareness of Public Opinion. New York: Wiley-Interscience, 1972. 250p. Reprint. Polls and the Awareness of Public Opinion. Communications Series. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books, 1985. 264p.

The interrelationships of polls and politics are discussed with special emphasis placed on the 1968 presidential campaign. Change and movement of opinion are covered, as are ambiguous and unheard opinions. Additional chapters examine opinions in revolutions and the responsibilities which opinion holding carries. The opening chapter is titled “Polls and Politics” and covers topics such as: “Should Polls Make Policy”; “Polling and the Concept of Opinion”; “Reporting the Polls”; “On Predicting Elections”; and “Polls and the Campaign of 1968.” The emphasis of the volume is on public opinion—movement, changes, ambiguities, and associated responsibilities. The notes and addenda sections number over forty pages and include lengthy explanations to the textual matter.

10. Bradbum, Norman M., and Seymour Sudman. Polls & Surveys: Understanding What They Tell Us. A Joint Publication in the Jossey-Bass Social and Behavioral Science Series and the Jossey-Bass Public Administration Series. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1988. 249p.

The work is intended as a comprehensive overview for nonspecialists. Newcomers to public opinion measurement and students of political science, sociology, business, and communications studying public opinion or market research are the intended audience. The chapter titles in order of appearance are: “Polling and the Public: Purposes and Process”; “Growth of Public Opinion Polling”; “Proper and Improper Uses of Surveys”; “The Organizations That Do the Polling”; “How Information Is Collected”; “How Respondents Are Selected”; “Asking the Question: How Wording Affects Response”; “What Do the Answers Mean?”; “Understanding Sources of Error”; “Should Polls Be Banned?”; and “Effects of Polls on Elections, Governments, Business and Media. “The book assists in the recognition of which polls and surveys (terms which the authors use synonymously) may be valuable and which should be disregarde...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Series Foreword
• Foreword
• Introduction
• Acknowledgments
• 1. Reference Sources
• 2. Instructional Materials
• 3. History
• 4. Overview
• 5. Impact, Influence and Perceptions
• 6. Discipline Oriented Studies
• 7. Exit Polling and Election Projection
• 8. Pollsters
• 9. Administration and Design
• 10. Measurement and Scaling
• 11. Questions
• 12. Sampling
• 13. Interviewing
• 14. Responses
• 15. Data Collection
• 16. Statistical Analysis
• 17. Results
• 18. Comparative Studies and Special Topics
• 19. Cross-Disciplinary Research
• 20. Models and Theories
• Addendum
• Appendix A: Acronyms
• Appendix B: List of Journals
• Appendix C: Dissertations
• Appendix D: Monograph Series Names
• Appendix E: Basic Bibliographic Sources
• Appendix F: Indexing and Abstracting Resources
• Appendix G: Organizations
• Appendix H: Selective Key Word Index Stop List
• Author Index
• Selective Key Word Index