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Part V: Statistical Studies and the Hunt for a Meaningful Relationship
What’s the difference between a poll and a survey? Statisticians don’t make
a clear distinction between the two, but I’ve noticed that what people call a
poll is typically a short survey containing only a few questions (maybe that’s
how researchers get more people to respond — they call it a poll rather than a
survey!). But for all intents and purposes, surveys and polls are the same thing.
You come into contact with surveys and their results on a daily basis.
Compared to other types of studies, such as medical experiments, some sur-
veys can be relatively easy to conduct. They provide quick results that can
often make interesting headlines in newspapers or eye-catching stories in
magazines. People connect with surveys because they feel that survey results
represent the opinions of people just like themselves (even though they may
never have been asked to participate in a survey). And many people enjoy
seeing how other people feel, what they do, where they go, and what they
care about. Looking at survey results makes people feel linked with a bigger
group, somehow. That’s what pollsters (the people who conduct surveys)
bank on, and that’s why they spend so much time doing surveys and polls
and reporting the results of this research.
Getting to the source
Who conducts surveys these days? Pretty much anyone and everyone who
has a question to ask. Some of the groups that conduct polls and report the
results include the following:

✓ News organizations
✓ Political parties and candidates running for office
✓ Professional polling organizations (such as the Gallup Organization,
the Harris Poll, Zogby International, and the National Opinion Research
Center [NORC])
✓ Representatives of magazines, TV shows, and radio programs
✓ Professional research organizations (like the American Medical
Association, Smithsonian Institution, and Pew Research Center for
the People and the Press)
✓ Special-interest groups (such as the National Rifle Association,
Greenpeace, and American Civil Liberties Union)
✓ Academic researchers
✓ The United States government
✓ Joe Six-Pack (who can easily conduct his own survey on the Internet)

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