Quarter Project

Kylee Aoyama and Caleb Curtis

Polls 1100 (1A)

Project Summary
This project was a great opportunity to learn and experience political polling.
There were some interesting things discovered when we were set to work on this
project. They revolved around the way a question was worded and who answered them.
The way a question is worded can influence the results of your poll dramatically.
One of our questions was worded in such a way that separated two of the biggest
components of gender roles we have grown up with here in America. They are that
women should stay at home to raise a family and that women should have jobs and
should be actively involved in the community. In our society today, many people do not
see a reason as to why these two scenarios cannot be. So when the question was
posed for the participant to answer weather or not they thought a woman should stay in
the home and raise a family verses women being able to be involved in the community
or workplace, many (if not all) of the people polled were in favor of the latter option for
women. Now thinking back on the problem, we realized that we could have swayed the
participants to answer greater on the other side of the argument had we worded the
question in a different way.
Another thing we learned from doing this project was that people think very
different. What we mean by this is that a question that was supposed to sway the
participant to answer contrary to our question had different responses based on
mentality. The question demanded the participant to answer weather or not they would
vote for equal rights if their mothers, sisters, significant others, etc., were to be
registered for the draft as a result. Overall, more people voted for equal rights despite
the scenario than were expected to. The overall mentality of those that said they would
vote affirmatively was this, If they want equal rights, they will be equal in all things.
(paraphrased) This is also an example of phrasing a question. Our results may have
had the results we hypothesized had we changed the question to something such as,
Died in a war after being drafted into the military.
One last thing we learned should have been obvious from the start. The results
varied based mainly (but not exclusively) on gender, age, situation, and religion. The
point where these differences became obvious is when the answers given by
participants began to be very particular based on a persons background.
This concludes the project and what we learned in carrying through. We realize
now how much phrasing, mentality, and many other factors can greatly influence the
responses to survey questions. Now knowing all of this we are better equipped with the
knowledge necessary to conduct a more accurate poll.