The Future Study of Public Opinion: A Symposium

A number of well-known scholars and practitioners participated in a symposium on the future of public opinion study. Irving Crespi of Baruch College notes that, although progress has been made in the discipline, public opinion research must overcome the high cost of implementation and the ease with which untrained personnel enter the field. James A. Davis of Harvard University feels the 3 biggest problems facing the discipline are: 1. validity, 2. finding glut, and 3. communication. Ernest Dichter of Ernest Dichter Motivations Inc. believes that attitude research of the future will be more aware of emotional components, as well as the action implications of surveys. According to the University of Denver's Harold Mendelsohn, public opinion researchers will increasingly become active members of administrative-management teams. Paul B. Sheatsley of the National Opinion Research Center feels that researchers must try harder to convince the public that participating in surveys is worthwhile.