POLS 029. Polling, Public Opinion, and Public Policy (AP)


Public opinion polling has become an essential tool in election campaigning, public policy decision making, and media reporting of poll results. As such, this seminar focuses on helping students interested in these areas learn the fundamental skills required to design, empirically analyze, use, and critically interpret surveys measuring public opinion. Because the course emphasizes the application of polling data about public policy issues and the political process, we will examine the following topics: U.S. presidential leadership and the war in Ukraine; COVID-19 disinformation and vaccine hesistancy; abortion rights; racial prejudice and politics; gun rights and school safety; and finally, polling errors in the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
Prerequisite: POLS 002  or permission of the instructor.
Social sciences.
1 credit.
Catalog chapter: Political Science  
Department website: http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science


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