User:Larrybhot/Mervin Field

Mervin Field is best known for founding and directing The Field Poll. The Poll is an independent, non-partisan public opinion news service, widely recognized since its establishment in 1947  as an authoritative independent source of public opinion utilizing sophisticated survey methodology.

Its focus has been on California and as of  late 2009, The Field Poll has published more than 2300 reports during its sixty-two years of operation.

The Field Poll has relied on financial support from newspapers and television stations, the University of California, the California State University system, and various non-profit foundations. It has eschewed receiving funds from political candidates or interests.

The California Journal in its November 1999 issue marking its 30th anniversary selected 30 men and women who had the greatest influence on California government and politics in the 20th century. In its selection of Mervin Field the Journal said: “Over the past half century, Field and his poll have defined California politics: he has been the man who explained Californians to one another and the nation. His nearly 2000 reports have been carried by newspapers and television stations across the state. While his candidate polls in key contests attract the heaviest media attention, more than one half of his polling reports have dealt with public policy issues that affected the lives of Californians and shaped the actions of their legislature. In the national media the myth grew that if you want to see America tomorrow, look at California today. And Field became the lens through which most of the nation viewed California.” -2-

In 1946, prior to the start of The Field Poll,  Field Research Corporation (FRC), a commercial  consumer and opinion research practice was established operating locally, regionally and nationally. Over the years FRC grew to be a leading company in the field conducting studies for major businesses, media,  health organization, local, state, and national government agencies.

These studies have covered a wide range of topics: consumer behavior for a variety of products and services, reaction to various forms of advertising, measures of different media audiences, public relations effectiveness, corporate image, trade and dealer surveys, and studies among employees, stockholders, executives and community influentials.

Field has appeared frequently as an expert witness in state and federal courts.

Since 1956, The Field Poll and FRC have maintained a continuing relationship with the University of California and California State Univesity campuses wherein all of The Field Poll survey data is regularly deposited. This extensive and continually growing body of survey data has become and invaluable resource for scholars, media, and public policy makers. It is a unique and rich archive that is used in political science, journalism. sociology, and survey research methodology courses.

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Citations, awards, and other recognitions

Field has received numerous professional citations and awards. Two of these awards were from the American Marketing Associations. One in 1956 for his “Field Index of Advertising Efficiency” and another in 1971 for his “Outstanding Service to  the Profession of Marketing Research” In 2001, The Market Research Council (New York) name Field to its Hall of Fame.

He was the recipient of the 1979 American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) Award for “exceptionally distinguished achievement”. The citation accompanying the award said in part… “Mr. Field has been the chief architect of and a successful campaigner for a contemporary code of standards for public opinion research…..” He is a professional who seems to have always known that high quality work demands a comparable level of professional and corporate conduct. He is a model for the businessman in research, a distinguished political analyst and a conscience of a profession…”

In 1996 Field was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws by the Trustees of the California State University. The citation said in part….”Mervin Field is a highly respected leader within his profession…and in the course of his career he has become a trusted advisor to academia, civic associations, governmental institutions and the business community…”

Field has held offices in the American Marketing Association (AMA) and the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR). He helped establish the National Council of Published Polls (NCPP) and is one of the founding directors of the Council of American Survey Research Organizations (CASRO).

He is a past member of the Advisory Council of the Institute of Governmental Studies, U.C. Berkeley and for a period was a Regents’ Professor at U.C. Berkeley.

Early Life

Field was born in 1921 in New Brunswick, New Jersey and graduated from Princeton High School in 1938. His subsequent formal education was limited to a few months each at Rutgers night school, the University of Missouri and the U.S.Merchant Marine Academy.

His first exposure to the concept of survey research was in his high school  junior year  (1937) when  in a chance occurrence he was introduced to the polling pioneer,  Dr. George Gallup. Field’s first survey was in determining student preferences for his high school senior class president.

Prior to WWII, Field worked  for Opinion Research Corporation (ORC)  and the Gallup Poll in Princeton. He spent three months beginning in 1942 at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kingspoint, New York. Between March 1943 and November 1945,  Field sailed on eight different merchant ships carrying troops, cargo and gasoline in the North Atlantic and South Pacific war theatres. During that period, he rose from Deck Cadet, to a licensed Third Mate, Second Mate and Acting Chief Mate. His three year shipboard service period provided him considerable time to study texts on various technical aspects of survey research.