The Internet Public Opinion Laboratory (I-POL) represents a Web-based research capability for designing and conducting regional, national, and international surveys of public opinion on various political, social, economic, and technological issues in our global society. As an integral part of the Center for the Study of Democratic Citizenship the I-POL is especially concerned with the growing role of polling in democratic societies and such issues as the relationship between public opinion and public policy; abuses of polls in elections and election coverage in the mass media; the use of polls as evidence that democracy works; the consequences of polls for leadership in democratic societies; and the feasibility of direct democracy through technologies such as the Internet. The I-POL is also a central component for academic and professional training of graduate students enrolled in the Graduate Certificate Program in Public Opinion and Survey Research under the direction of George Bishop (George.Bishop@uc.edu), Professor of Political Science.
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