In a public opinion poll, pollsters ask questions of people and record their answers. When all their answers are recorded, the pollsters figure out the percentage of people who are in favor of a particular issue and those who are not. Professional national pollsters have complex rules they follow to make sure that their polls are as accurate as possible, but even a simple poll can be a useful tool to help someone determine the opinions of people in a local group.

Those who are running for president, or any other office, pay close attention to polls. Because they provide information about what people want and like, polls become a useful tool for determining how people may vote.

There are some things to keep in mind about polls. First of all, they only represent public opinion at the time that the poll was taken; new events can change public opinion. Secondly, there may be groups of people whose opinions are not being expressed through a poll, either because the questions do not elicit their opinion, or because their opinions cannot be polled through conventional means of communication.