Mass Communication Research Group Project Assignment 1 Finding and Evaluating Polls

This assignment is designed to show you how professionals translate technical reports into news — you will do this for yourselves on later assignments. Failure to do this assignment well will make later assignments more difficult!

This assignment:

• provides experience in finding technical reports of survey research and the news stories and news releases based on them.
• helps students see how survey research is translated into news stories and news releases.
• provides experience in examining news reports with regard to standards of disclosure promulgated by the polling profession.

To receive full credit (40 points), the final report must:

• be turned in on time. Late assignments will be penalized a letter grade per day until they are submitted.
• address EACH of the five sections described below (Incomplete assignments will be treated the same as late assignments with grade penalties).
• follow the required format. All reports must contain the capitalized subheadings listed below in the order they are listed:
  1. FINDING AND DESCRIBING THE POLLS USED
  2. EVALUATING LEADS AND NEWSWORTHINESS
  3. DESCRIBING HOW NEWS REPORTS USE NUMBERS
  4. EVALUATING ADHERENCE TO REPORTING STANDARDS
  5. EVALUATING ADHERENCE TO PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS.

FINDING AND DESCRIBING THE POLLS USED

Each group must find at least five news stories or news releases along with technical reports of the data they are based on. The news stories or news releases must come from a variety of sources, i.e. no more than one should come from the Los Angeles Times. Also, they should cover a variety of topics, as multiple topics allow you to see a variety of styles. At a minimum the technical reports must contain:

1. The exact question wording
2. A report of the frequency distribution of response to the questions
3. Enough detail to conform to the standards of disclosure of the American Association for Public Opinion Research or the National Council on Public Polls.

• a one-sentence description of the survey.
• a description of the search strategies used. This should be provided in enough detail so that the instructors can replicate the strategy and find the reports easily.
• the web addresses (URL's ) of both the technical report and the news story or news release.

1. Environment and the Presidential Election
   
   This national survey, sponsored by the League of Conservation Voters, surveyed 1,023 likely voters' perceptions of the roll of the environment in the 2000 presidential election.
   
   It was located by entering the search words "environment" and "poll" into the Google World Wide Web search engine and scrolling through the output looking for appropriate reports.
   
   The Web address for the news release is:
   http://www.lcv.org/news/101600_pres_poll.html [NOTE: This example has been mirrored to the Com 300 site.]
   
   The Web address for the technical report is:
   http://www.lcv.org/news/poll_questions_analysis.pdf
   
   
2. National Survey Shows Americans Concerned About Link Between Their Health And Environment
   
   Sponsored by Health-Track, a national public health organization, and conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates, this nation-wide survey querried 1,565 adults about their knowledge of environmental effects on health problems.
   
   This article was located by entering the search string "enviroment poll OR survey" into the Profusion World Wide Web search engine and scrolling through the output looking for appropriate reports. This led to an AP article, but it didn't have the technical reports I sought. So I went to the Health-Track Web site and searched their press releases to find the article on which the AP release was based.
   
   The Web address for the news release is located at:
   http://health-track.org/news/releases/062000.php3
   
   The Web address for the technical report is located at:
   http://health-track.org/reports/survey0620/survey0620.pdf
   
   
3. Rick & Hillary: Who do you think they are?
   
   This survey, conducted by The Polling Company for New York Magazine, polled 600 likely New York voters on their views of the Clinton-Lazio Senate race. (NOTE: This result is not environmentally related, but fulfills the qualifications detailed in the assignment instructions).
   
   It was located by entering the search string "enviroment poll OR survey" into the Profusion World Wide Web search engine and scrolling through the output looking for appropriate reports. This led me to an Environmental News Network article about republicans and the environment. The article did not have the actual questions asked, but it had a reference to the Polling Company. A search on the company's name led me to their Web site. Since I didn't immediately see any way to get to the poll in question, I hit the first link under "recent polls."
   
   This led to the technical report, "Portrait By Numbers: The Poll," located at:
   http://www.pollingcompany.com/News.asp?FormMode=ViewReleases&ID=34
   
   The technical report contained a link to the New York Magazine article based on the results, located at:
   http://www.newyorkmag.com/page.cfm?page_id=3916
   
   Note: Though this resource was not related to the original topic in the search string, it provided the material needed for the assignment. See, there is more than one way to skin a cat. :)

• Indicate the news values each lead is based on. Tell how many words are in each lead sentence, and the average number of words across the five leads.
• Report the question in the technical report on which the lead is based. Is the question inherently newsworthy? Be sure to quote the exact wording of the question and report full results.
• Tell how many sentences are there per paragraph for the first three paragraphs of each story. For all five articles, calculate the average number of sentences within the first three paragraphs.

• How are numbers reported (frequency tables, percentages, measures of central tendency or dispersion)? Are a variety of approaches used?
• What's the form of the example (sentence, table, graph)?
• Do the authors use graphics to illustrate the numbers? If so, what kind (e.g. bar charts, pie charts)?
• How many decimal points are percentages reported to?
• Do the authors use a percentage sign or do they spell out the word "percent"?
• How do the authors report percentages of combined response categories (e.g. collapsing categories of freshmen and sophomores into underclassmen and juniors and seniors into upperclassmen)?
• What sort of adjectives or phrases are used? (e.g. an astounding  37 percent; ratio of 7 to 10.
• How are differences between subgroups described?
• Do they explain statistical terms and if so, how?

• Indicate the number of news stories adhering to each standard. Rank order them from most frequently reported to least frequently reported.
• Indicated where the standards are discussed in the news stories (interspersed in the text, in a boxed sidebar, at the end of the text, with a Web link, a combination). Which system do you find best?
• Which standards are most likely to be reported and which ones omitted? If standards are omitted, is this done appropriately?
• Are confusing standards (e.g. confidence intervals and confidence levels) explained to the audience? If so, how well do they do it (provide examples)?

• What is the quality of the writing?
• Does the article adhere to AP style? If not, provide examples of ways that they fail to do so.
• Does the article contain grammar mistakes? If so, provide examples.

• each student finds an appropriate news story/release and a matching technical report
• each student answers the five questions
• combine the individual reports of the five or six group members.

1. Everyone in the group searches for appropriate polls and technical report. E-mail the whole group with three or four likely prospects for the assignment, including the url (Web address) and comments about the sites.
2. Decide which five (or perhaps more) of the nominated sets of stories and reports will be used in the final report. Perhaps one or two people in the group would volunteer to take on this task and report to the group. This could be done largely via e-mail. Otherwise, the group could arrange to meet and work together on this.
3. Each member of the group reads all five selections and e-mails suggestions for answers to the last three questions.
4. Individual members of the group synthesize everyone's ideas for the final three sections of the report.
5. Other members prepare a draft of the complete report.
6. When the complete report is finished, e-mail all members of the group to suggest editing and revisions.
7. Someone would be in charge of making the revisions and turning in the report on time.

Bonus points may be assigned at the instructor's discretion to work deemed to be exceptional.

If you don't understand something in this Web note, please e-mail Dr. Sitton.