ABSTRACT
A popular image of the social researcher is of a figure armed with a clipboard who approaches you in the street, and asks if you have the time to answer a few questions. If you agree to be questioned, there is a good chance that the questions will be on your political opinions, your voting intentions, or on your preferences with regard to washing powders, or foreign holidays, or TV programmes, or any of a host of other possibilities. These all come under the general heading of ‘public opinion polls’, and can take many forms.
