was ahead, 26% said the Soviets were, 4% had no opinion, and a whopping 46% said they felt both nations were roughly the same in military might. How would the responses have differed if the middle choice had been eliminated? Moreover, what would have occurred if “don’t know” and “refuse to answer” were also options? This paper will examine the way in which public opinion polls are unable to adequately reflect the presence of non-attitudes in the population, and will identify the challenges that polling organizations face in devising a feasible and scientifically effective solution... displayed 300 characters
Custom written essay
All essays are written from scratch by professional writers according to your instructions and delivered to your email on time. Prices start from $10.99/page
Your research paper is written by certified writers
Your requirements and targets are always met
You are able to control the progress of your writing assignment
You get a chance to become an excellent student!
Get a price guote
As techniques have evolved to address various problems that arise with the advent and use of polling, non-attitude errors -- because of their origin from respondent choice rather than from the measuring instrument itself -- have remained largely unresolved even in more sophisticated polls. This paper will examine the way in which the limitations of scientific polling leave non-attitudes almost entirely unaddressed, the characteristics of response choice that make it particularly challenging to overcome, the dilemma that pollsters face in accounting for nonattitudes in the population, the weaknesses inherent in several of the proposed solutions to this common problem, and finally the implications that its continued, and often hidden, presence in poll results have on the interpretation of public opinion polls, particularly in the face of policy changes... displayed 300 characters
