ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the development of political opinion polling in Central and Eastern Europe countries in the period prior to the collapse of communist regimes there at the end of 1989. It discusses the methodological issues and problems confronting opinion pollsters in communist-led societies during this time. Political opinion polls conducted in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe had their methodological origins in the USA and Western Europe. The chapter provides various issues which emerged as researchers under the direction of Stephen Nowak and Zygmunt Gostkowski attempted to apply American political science techniques to Poland. It suggests that there are certain key methodological problems in polling public opinion which are common in all communist political systems, and which are linked to the social and political context of questionnaire interviewing. These include: the levels of non-response in such political surveys; the problems associated with 'don't know' responses; and the influence of third parties in the interview process.
