How do pollsters assign positive and negative numbers...

Factual Questions
1

…to candidates?

Obama has x negativity, Sen. Clinton has 2x negativity, etc. The numbers rise and fall weekly, according to the way the public perceives him/her.

So, how do the pollsters derive the numbers? Have you ever been polled for this stuff?

2

They poll people. I have only been called for a political poll once or so in my life, but when these polls are conducted, they only poll about 1,000 people, so you’re looking at a slim chance of being called on any specific poll.

So, if they ask “How do you feel about Sen. Obama? Good, bad or indifferent?” and 24% say “I don’t like him.” Then he gets a 24% negative rating, within the margin of error of the poll. A 1,000 person poll is a margin of error of +/- 3 percent. To get within a margin of error of 2%, you’d need to poll about 2,400 people.

3

I never throught it’s be that simple.

Thanks, Jman.

4

Adding to what Jman said, pollsters typically ask whether someone “strongly supports, somewhat supports, somewhat opposes, or strongly opposes” a candidate, so there is a measure of hardcore support/opposition vs. those who might change their mind.