What is the point of a poll? (election related)

[rostfrei]

First, I’m not sure if this necessarily has a factual answer, but I could be wrong.

What is the point of a poll? Specifically, polls that deal with who’s in the lead for the potential presidential nominees. Why do I need to know that Hillary was not expected to win in NH beforehand? Are polls designed to sway voters? Are polls ever right?

Eric

[Telemark]

@rostfrei

Why do I need to know that Hillary was not expected to win in NH beforehand?

Because it’s news.

[Captain_Amazing]

A poll is a snapshot of how a certain group of people feel about or believe insomething at a certain time. Since our beliefs and our feelings affect our behavior, you can extrapolate how a group of people are likely to behave based on the poll results.

Obviously, if you’re running for president, you want to know how the voters are going to behave…specifially, if they’re going to vote for you or not. You can then use that information to affect your campaign strategy…putting more resources into an area that’s contested, and taking resources out of areas where you’re clearly either going to win or lose, for instance, or finding out what issues are important to groups you’re targeting, and then making sure you address those issues.

[Phlosphr]

@Captain Amazing

A poll is a snapshot of how a certain group of people feel about or believe insomething at a certain time. Since our beliefs and our feelings affect our behavior, you can extrapolate how a group of people are likely to behave based on the poll results.

Obviously, if you’re running for president, you want to know how the voters are going to behave…specifially, if they’re going to vote for you or not. You can then use that information to affect your campaign strategy…putting more resources into an area that’s contested, and taking resources out of areas where you’re clearly either going to win or lose, for instance, or finding out what issues are important to groups you’re targeting, and then making sure you address those issues.

Yes, and you can use the polling to whip up a few watery eyes and maybe a crack in your voice to garner a few extra votes especially when polls say people think you are too icy… :eek: Oh did I say that???

[Gary_Robson]

As I see it, polls serve several very different purposes:

1. Private polls by candidates tell them where they stand and what they need to do to improve their chances

2. Public polls increase ratings on TV news and increase sales of newspapers and magazines (“Wow, that headline says my candidate is losing ground, I’d better buy a copy and find out why”)

Those first two are pretty straightforward and non-controversial. This one may generate more discussion:

3. Polls are a way to influence an election. People like to back a winner. Iowa and New Hampshire combined represent less than 1.4% of the population of the U.S., yet Presidential candidates are already talking about dropping out. A newspaper or television station can affect the outcome of an election simply by giving prominent placement and attention to polls that favor their candidate and burying polls that don’t.