User:Alexlavin99/sandbox

Article Evaluation:

I reviewed the "Opinion Poll" Wikipedia page. The page was very focused on opinion polls-- they explored the history of the opinion poll, noted different types of polls, the possible difficulties of accuracy, and their impact on the world and politics. There was no one section that seemed as if it did not belong. I also believe that this article is fairly neutral. The topic of opinion polls is not itself controversial. Yes, the things that the polls are asking or their results may be divisive, but it is unlikely that the writer of this article could influence people's feelings on opinion polls themselves through their information or wording. One aspect of this page that is underrepresented is the section explaining the impact opinion polls have had on politicians. There are only five sentences, three of which are a quote from Douglas Bailey about how they effected Gerald Ford's election. I think there is no question that opinion polls have a great deal of influence on the campaigns and actions of politicians when they are in office. However, the page does note that this section needs expansion, and links to where one could add to it. About 60% of the links from the citations work-- many of them are listed, but cannot be clicked on. While most that I was able to click on did give the information provided, a few did not. For instance, the writer cited a website for the claim that cell phone use was noted as an issue in opinion polling for the first time in 2004, but when I looked at the website there was no mention of the date 2004, and the article was written in 2008. That saying, the sources that do work and have the information needed are generally from reliable sources-- a number are from Pew Research, and many are from news sources like ABC or CNN. Most of the conversation going on this page is not very inflammatory. Most of the corrections are either about grammar or clarification. For instance, someone changed a dead link to an active source, and someone else added more information about the 2016 election. The article is involved in three WikiProjects: politics, psychology, and statistics. They are all rated C, for mid-importance. In the talk section, the only comment made was that there was a link about approval ratings that did not lead to any conclusive information, and that it should be changed.

Overall, much of this article is very similar to how we have discussed opinion polls in class. The issues with reliability, how the way questions are worded can effect answers, and modern day limitations of polling are all very similar to what has been discussed in the classroom. There definitely needs to be more information about how political polls effect how politicians act, and there should be more current and updated links.

Sources for Wikipedia Project:

Adam J. Bernisky and James N. Druckman.“Public Opinion Research and Support for the Iraq War”.Public Opinion Quarterly, Vol. 71, No. 1, Spring 2007, pp. 126–141.

Craighill, Peyton M. “Public Opinion Is Settled as Iraq War Concludes.” The Washington Post, 6 Nov. 2011. Core, Kevin. “Television News, Public Opinion, and the Iraq War: Do Wartime Rationales Matter?”

Dugan, Andrew. “Fewer in U.S. View Iraq, Afghanistan Wars as Mistakes.” Gallup News, Gallup, 12 June 2015.

Dugan, Andrew. “On 10th Anniversary, 53% in U.S. See Iraq War as Mistake.” Gallup News, Gallup, 18 Mar. 2013.

Dutton, Sarah, et al. “Most Americans Say Iraq War Wasn’t worth the Costs: Poll.” CBS News, 23 June 2014.

Saad, Lydia. “Top Ten Findings About Public Opinion and Iraq.” Gallup News, Gallup, 8 Oct. 2002.

Smith, Caroline, and James M. Lindsey. “Rally ‘Round the Flag: Opinion in the United States before and after the Iraq War.” Brookings, 2 June 2003.