Author Description

"Every president since Franklin D. Roosevelt has relied on polls to gauge the thinking of the electorate. Major U.S. media outlets not only report on polls but also frequently commission their own. To its critics, polling can be dangerously imprecise, distort the work of press and politicians, and pose a mortal threat to the democratic process itself. To its defenders, polling is an invaluable source of information, giving us a unique and consistently accurate window into issues as diverse as voting preferences, gender differences, race relations, child rearing, consumer habits, health care, and education." "Now Frank Newport, editor in chief of The Gallup Poll - the nation's preeminent polling source - tells the skeptics why polls matter...and explains to the rest of us exactly how polling works." "The people's voice is knowing and almost always on target. It forms what Dr. George Gallup - the founder of the famous poll that bears his name - proclaimed over sixty years ago as the true pulse of democracy. This book demonstrates how polls lie at the vital heart of a well-functioning and free society."--BOOK JACKET.