The Hindu Business Line : Pulse of polls

Research agencies engaged in conducting poll surveys will be appreciated far more than at present if only they treat such poll eve opportunities beyond commercial concerns, suggests N. Bhaskara Rao in A Handbook of Poll Surveys in Media: An Indian Perspective ( www.gyanbooks.com). Also, he calls for a continual update and modification of research methodology with regard to design, sampling and even analysis, taking into account the changing electoral scene.

The author fears that when news media relies excessively on surveys, the spirit of democracy could be dampened. “If poll surveys cannot motivate and activate civic sense and societal concerns, they have the potential to blunt ‘free and fair’ conduct of elections and snub voter activism.”

He decries the practice of some journalists and political activists being described as psephologists. “A journalist could function better as an investigative analyst and come up with more reliable figures than a psephologist… A journalist, a political activist, and an analyst working together can make better sense of surveys and enlighten citizens far more.”

Useful analysis.

D. Murali