WHAT THE PUBLIC THINKS ABOUT HOW WE KNOW WHAT IT IS THINKING

In his 1987 presidential address to the annual AAPOR meeting, J. Ronald Milavsky stated that ‘we need to start paying more attention to the public's estimate of the worth of survey research’ (1987, p. 447), but the literature shows little response to that call. Historically, broad-stroked conclusions about public attitudes have been positive, but the data are scanty and there has been little analysis of the structure of opinions. In this study, we take a step in examining what the public thinks about how we know what it is thinking. In addition to standard direct questions about the accuracy and frequency of polls, we developed indirect measures designed to tap attitudes about polling as a mechanism in policy representation. Our evidence suggests that poll confidence is multi-dimensional and that the indirect questions provide insights not apparent when people are asked directly about polling. We suggest additional research paths to explore the nature, sources, and implications of both positive and negative dimensions to attitudes about public policy polls.