Wednesday, September 4, 2019

Join us September 9th as Dr. Charles Franklin presents: The Past, Present and Future of Public Opinion Polling

Hear ye!! Hear ye!! It's that time once again when we science nerds gather at the Sugar Maple "watering" hole to learn things and stuff about science!! Well, this month we're changing it up a wee bit and looking into the world of political science where we will be hosting Marquette Law School's very own Dr. Charles Franklin to speak on the intricacies of public opinion polling!!

The development of scientific samples of the public and the methodology of survey research grew from the late 1930s when probability samples of households were first developed. These evolved into random samples of telephones in the 1960s and are now evolving to samples and surveys using the internet. Each era has faced challenges while advancing our ability to measure public opinion among a representative sample of the population. We’ll talk about this evolution and pay special attention to the issues facing polling now and for the next few years.

Summer is over now and it's time to grab a beer and learn things!! Tell your family, friends and neighbors!! Hope to see you there!!


Charles Franklin is professor of law and public policy at Marquette Law School, and director of the Marquette Law School Poll. Prior to joining Marquette in 2012 he was Professor of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin, Madison for 20 years. He is past president of the Society for Political Methodology, and an elected fellow of the Society. He holds a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Michigan.