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Definitions of Surveys and Public Opinion

From the definition to the right, it can be seen that surveys cannot be an actual representation of the public’s opinion. What you are actually getting is a representative sample that is supposed to be reflective of the entire population. As far as the poll is concerned, your opinions have been taken into account, by someone just like you. The essence of survey sampling is that you don't actually have to interview everyone to get a good idea of what everyone thinks. As long as everyone has an equal chance of being included, we've created a "random" sample, which is the essence of good survey design.

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