Taking the Electoral Pulse: Three Approaches to the Methodology of Election Polling

With a general election looming, this seminar will examine the methodology of three approaches to ascertaining the distribution of political preferences across the country. These are telephone polling, internet polling and exit polls. In each case the seminar will focus on the opportunities and challenges associated with the method and outline some of the controversies surrounding its use.  It will enable participants to become acquainted with how each approach is implemented in the UK and develop an informed judgement about the likely methodological rigour of each approach during the course of the 2010 general election campaign. The event is being organised by the ESRC National Centre for Research Methods (NCRM) and the British Polling Council.