The Research Society has produced this guidance to help individuals evaluate, understand and interpret opinion polls. This guidance is primarily for non-researchers who commission and/or use opinion polls.
Research Society Members can use it to support their understanding of the reporting rules outlined in the Research Society Code of Professional Behaviour (the Code) and the Guideline on Reporting Research Findings.
The guidance covers:
- Opinion polls – the key points including what is an opinion poll, what is sampling, how are samples representative, how are samples selected?
- How are opinion polls conducted?
- A checklist – ten questions to ask when evaluating opinion polls
Our thanks to our strategic partner MRS in the UK whose own guidance on this topic was the basis for the development of this document.
This guidance is available on The Research Society website here.
