Concept in Definition ABC

Probing is a polysemic word, since it has different meanings, but all of them with the same origin.

As a general idea, a survey is an action by which something is found, specific information. Thus, it is possible to conduct a bottom survey maritime for some purpose (a study on marine sediments or the search for archaeological remains at the bottom of the sea). Something similar occurs in the interior of the earth, where geotechnical surveys are carried out. On medicine Valves called probes are applied to learn about some organs that cannot be seen simply vision and therefore a sounding is performed (very common is the one performed in the urethra or the gallbladder).

When we want to find out something hidden about someone or in relation to a mysterious matter and the homework It is impossible, it is said that it is unfathomable, that is, it is not possible to know the truth, since it is inaccessible.

Feeling the electorate

The fundamental idea of ​​an electoral poll is simple: carry out a

survey to a significant number of people in order to know what their intention to vote is before the next elections.

An electoral poll is a techniquestatistics of a sociological type in which scientific parameters are used to predict society's response to elections. While the information they provide is useful, it is not a perfect and foolproof system (there are many examples of erroneous surveys that have gone down in history). All surveys have a limitation: whoever responds can lie, so the information they provide distorts the reality they are trying to know. Nor should we forget that the electoral poll has its own limits, so its validity is debatable.

The first electoral polls were promoted by some American newspapers at the beginning of the 19th century. They were not rigorous and scientific in nature and simply pretended to know the voting intentions of the readers. This idea was not applied exclusively to voting, but also served to evaluate the opinions of society on various issues. Probing as measurement it was adapted to other circumstances (to the world of marketing or the measurement of radio and later television audiences).

Who consolidated the electoral polling mechanism was the American journalist George Horace Gallup, the founder of the American Institute of Public Opinion in 1935. In a few years, this tool It was used in most countries and is now part of the reality politics everyday.

Topics in Polling