Public opinion research is one of the fasting growing and most diversified career opportunities available. It provides opportunities for work in government agencies, university settings, in political campaigns, and in the business world. Because the work involves a range of possible skills, the field attracts people who are interested in designing studies, managing polls in the field, conducting statistical analyses of data, or working with clients to implement policy or business decisions based on the data analysis.

Public opinion polling takes a number of forms. People who work for news organizations, for example, are interested in measuring opinion about current events or political figures. The most visible form of this work is the preelection polls conducted in conjunction with political campaigns or the exit poll interviews that are collected on the day of an election that are used to estimate the outcomes...