ESOMAR/WAPOR GUIDELINE ON OPINION POLLS AND PUBLISHED SURVEYS
Public opinion is a critical force in shaping and transforming society. Public opinion polls and surveys are regularly conducted in many countries to measure not only support for political parties and candidates but also public opinion on a wide range of social and political issues. The results are published frequently in the print, online and broadcast media.
Properly conducted and disseminated opinion polls and surveys use scientific statistical methods to provide the public, politicians, the media and other interested groups with access to accurate and objective measures of public behaviour, attitudes and intentions. They give the general public an opportunity for its voice to be heard and to receive feedback about the opinions of their fellow-citizens. They also help guide policy by giving decision-makers impartial and unbiased information about what the public wants. Although some opinion polls are commissioned by political groups or individuals to help determine strategy, a great many opinion polls are meant for public consumption.
The study of people’s attitudes and beliefs and behaviours about political, social and other issues forms part of the total market and social research field, but often deals with issues which arouse greater public interest. Consequently, those findings are much more widely published and debated, and may sometimes be presented in a provocative or political way. Those who conduct opinion polls have a special responsibility to the scientific community, clients and other research users, respondents and the general public. This responsibility means not only using samples, methods, and tools that are appropriate, but also delivering to the public the information required to ensure transparent, unbiased reporting of the results supported by comprehensive documentation. Opinion polls are subject to exactly the same professional and ethical requirements as other forms of market and social research, set out in the ICC/ESOMAR International Code on Market and Social Research to which researchers and research users must conform. The Code sets minimum standards of professional and ethical conduct.
ESOMAR and WAPOR recognise there are particular issues in the collection and reporting of opinion poll and survey information and have therefore issued this Guideline as part of the self-regulatory framework that applies to international research. It highlights the responsibilities of researchers to conduct opinion polls in a professional and ethical way, and report them with sufficient transparency so that the public can judge the quality of results. Both will help ensure public confidence in opinion polls and published surveys.
This Guideline:
• Sets out the ethical rules that opinion researchers must follow;
• Underlines the rights and safeguards to which participants are entitled;
• Highlights the key information to be made available to maintain transparency when results are published;
• Specifies standards to guide the agreements to be in place with those who commission polls to ensure published survey results are presented in an unbiased way;
• Highlights the core methodological principles that apply in the design and conduct of such research;
• Underlines some of the additional issues that arise with specific forms of opinion polls.
All market, social and opinion research involves the gathering and further processing of personal data, which is regulated by law in many countries. In addition, certain countries regulate the conduct and publication of pre-election opinion poll results. Whilst ESOMAR and WAPOR collect information about such restrictions, researchers must verify which requirements are current as this Guideline cannot replace the advice of legal experts and self-regulatory bodies.
DOWNLOAD the complete ESOMAR/WAPOR resource here: http://nimra.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/guideline-for-opinion-polls-and-other-published-surveys.pdf