Lesson Plan: Polling the Public on Politics

In this lesson, students will hear Vanderbilt University Professor Joshua Clinton talk about the rise of public polling on political issues. They will view videos to learn about the impact of polling through historic examples of presidential elections, discover the significance of “who” participates in polls and “how” pollsters reach them as well as the importance of language in phrasing questions in polls and the timing in conducting them. At the conclusion of this lesson, students will consider factors in reading polls so they can make their own informed decisions about candidates.