Opinion Poll- Losing Authenticity Day By Day
An opinion poll, sometimes simply referred to as a poll, is a survey of public opinion
from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the
opinions of a population by conducting a series of questions and then
extrapolating generalities in ratio or within confidence intervals. Two of the
most common ways in which public opinion polls are conducted are telephone and
face-to-face interviews. Other methods include mail, online, and
self-administered surveys.
A scientific,
nonbiased public opinion poll is a type of survey or inquiry designed to
measure the public's views regarding a particular topic or series of topics.
Trained interviewers ask questions of people chosen at random from the
population being measured. Responses are given, and interpretations are made
based on the results. It is important in a random sample that everyone in the
population being studied has an equal chance of participating. Otherwise, the
results could be biased and, therefore, not representative of the population.
Representative samples are chosen in order to make generalizations about a
particular population being studied.
Earlier the
opinion polls were authentic and the political parties used to depend on
opinion polls. News came recently that the
election committee are likely to ban opinion polls because it is not authentic
and may lead to false idea.
The biggest issues
with opinion polls are that the chances of such polls being fabricated are very
high. Moreover there is no consistency about the methodology of these opinion
polls which makes it very difficult to rely on their authenticity. Most experts
say that these polls are also largely biased if not fabricated as they are
urban and male-centric. In the Indian scenario the sample sizes of all these
opinion polls are hardly anything and many of the surveys don not reveal how
they collected their samples. Recently there has a lot of talk about how
opinion polls are being doctored by the agencies. Most agencies manipulate the
result of poll and sell it to different media houses. In such circumstances
where the question mark on the authenticity of the polls remains, it’s better
to ignore and avoid them.
Although
opinion polling has become an essential tool in public policy decision-making
and election campaigns but unless the issue of authenticity is addressed their
relevance in a big democracy like India will remain marginal. Many political
scientists believe that opinion polls undermine the democratic process by
influencing the voters through the results of the opinion polls. Very often
when such polls get published they carry a disclaimer with them that advises
its readers that opinion poll conducted reflects the opinions of few who have
chosen to participate and cannot be generalized always. The importance of
opinion polling in Indian politics is not such that they cannot be done away
with. The polling industry, its
assumptions, and its methods do not remain relevant as these days all the agencies
conducting opinion polls are resorting to unethical practices. Polls tell us
what proportion of a population has a specific viewpoint. They do not explain why respondents believe
as they do or how to change their minds. This is the work of social scientists
and scholars. Polls are simply a measurement tool that tells us how a
population thinks and feels about any given topic. This can be useful in helping different
cultures understand one another because it gives the people a chance to speak
for themselves instead of letting only vocal media stars speak on behalf of
all. Opinion polling gives people who do not usually have access to the media
an opportunity to be heard.
-Anuradha
Roy
M.Sc Media, P.G 1
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