Interpreting polls and election data - guidance for media and journalists

IMPRESS, the UK’s independent press regulator, and MRS, have released guidance on ‘Using surveys and polling data in your journalism’.

After a consultation period which took place between 6 November and 20 November, the final guidance is here:

• Download the guidance: Using Surveys and Polling Data in your Journalism (PDF)

The guidance covers different aspects of using quantitative data, including the main challenges journalists can encounter when working with polling and survey data – as well as good practice to responsible reporting. Other issues covered by the guidance include: how to asses and deal with bias, common mistakes, a checklist of what reliable and unreliable data might look like, and further support and guidance information.

Below is the quick guide summary:

IMPRESS and MRS would like to thank all those who participated in the consultation and encourage all members of the public, journalists and interested parties to continue to engage with the guidance. A Quick Guide to using surveys and polling data in journalism has also been produced as a helpful reminder of basic pitfalls to avoid.

Jane Frost CBE, Chief Executive of MRS, said: “With a general election just around the corner and the possibility of another referendum beyond that, political polling has been thrown into the spotlight once again as people search for assurances and try to gauge voter sentiment.  We encourage all journalists to use this draft guidance to support their reporting in the coming weeks, to help them understand research issued by polling companies and ensure that they are reflecting the findings accurately in their reporting.  Let us know how it is helpful as well as where it can be improved – there can be no better time to put it to the test.”

Ed Procter, Chief Operating Officer at IMPRESS, said: “High-quality public interest journalism is a cornerstone of a healthy functioning democracy, particularly around election time when the public needs accountable and accurate information to navigate political messaging and misinformation. We know journalists want to report responsibly, so our hope is that this guidance will be a useful resource to them and helps to improve reporting on complex issues such as research and polling. We also want to hear from journalists, experts and members of the public and understand how this guidance can be enhanced, which is why we have opened it up to public consultation.”

Guidance and useful resources for journalists and media

Reporting polls

• Using Surveys and Polling Data in your Journalism (PDF)
• MRS/CIPR/RSS Best Practice Guide for using Statistics in Communications 

Understanding polls

• MRS Guidance on How to Read Opinion Polls 

Use of Polling Results

• MRS Guidance Note on Polling and insider Dealing:

JOURNAL: The challenges of accurately measuring public opinion

This special issue of the IJMR is dedicated to opinion polling and has been made available to the public as part of this MRS / IMPRESS initiative.

• Access the special issue for free on the SAGE website
• Also available from the IJMR is a paper on the 2017 election: Exploring constituency-level estimates for the 2017 British general election

Other resources
 

• House of lords Political Polling Committee: follow-up 28 October 2020, transcript
• ICO draft framework code of practice for the use of personal data in political campaigning
• ICO political campaigning and direct marketing advice
• ICO direct marketing code of practice
• MRS response to the ICO consultation on political campaigning guidance
• EDPB Statement 2/2019 on the use of personal data in the course of political campaigns 
• House of Commons briefing paper on Political advertising 

Watch an interview with Sir John Curtice 

Interviewed by Research Live in December 2017, the political scientist Sir John Curtice discusses people’s sense of identity and how allegiances to political parties are changing in the UK.

The difficulties of polling and changing voter behaviour.