The emergence of polling as a political actor: the legitimization of "scientific" study of public opinion

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Beatriz Mañas Ramírez
UNED

The beginning of scientific study of societies’ attitudes and opinions means a methodological turn for social research in the early decades of the twentieth century. The emergence of polls for the analysis of public opinion takes place in a context, the US, where a variety of economic, academic and socio-political processes contribute to consolidate a certain way to understand and study the social and, part of it, the subjective aspects of human behavior. In this paper we will raise these processes which constitute the stage of polls’ development and consolidation as a canonical form of public opinion research. Also, we will consider the arguments that built that legitimacy, not only as a primary device for social sciences, but also as a political tool.

Keywords
Public opinion polls, Surveys, Social psychology, Gallup, Social research

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Mañas Ramírez, Beatriz. “The emergence of polling as a political actor: the legitimization of ‘scientific’ study of public opinion”. Rubrica Contemporanea, 2016, vol.VOL 5, no. 10, pp. 85-99, https://raco.cat/index.php/rubrica/article/view/316670.
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Author Biography

Beatriz Mañas Ramírez, UNED

PhD in Sociology. Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology I (Theory, Methodology and Social Change). Main research line: methods and techniques for public opinion research. Author, among others, of the following contributions:

Mañas Ramírez, B. (2013): “Más allá de los sondeos: hacia un estudio discursivo de la opinión pública”, en Garrido, A. y Vinuesa, L. editoras, La Reina del Mundo. Reflexiones sobre la Historia de la Opinión pública. Madrid: Tgd.Pp. 147-172.
Mañas Ramírez, B. (2012): “Institutional Research on Public Opinion and Participative devices: From Polls to Public Debate”, Revista Internacional de Sociología (RIS), nº extra 2, diciembre de 2012, pp. 19-44.
Mañas Ramírez, B. (2008): “La medida de la opinión pública. Una mirada sociológica”, en Capellán, G. (coord.): Opinión Pública. Historia y Presente. Madrid: Trotta, pp. 159-180.
Mañas Ramírez, B. (2005): “Los orígenes estadísticos de las encuestas de opinión”, EMPIRIA, nº 9, enero-junio de 2005, pp. 89-113.