Book Reviews and Notices : The Pollsters: Public Opinion, Politics, and Democratic Leadership. BY LINDSAY ROGERS. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 1948. Pp. vii, 239. $2.75.)
| Author | Jack E. Holmes |
| Published date | 01 September 1949 |
| Date | 01 September 1949 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/106591294900200345 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
463
The
Age
of
the
Great
Depression,
1929-1941.
BY
DIXON
WECTER.
(New
York:
The
Macmillan
Company,
1948.
Pp.
xii,
362.
Illustrations,
critical
essay
on
authorities,
and
index.
$5.00.)
This
fascinating
study
is
not
officially
another
volume
of
the
History
of
American
Life
Series,
but
it
comes
as
close
to
it
as
Macmillan
is
able
to
make
it
by
format,
type,
and
illustrations.
The
similarity
is
also
ap-
parent
in
the
style
and
high
level
of
achievement.
The
Age
of
the
Great
Depression
will
not
be
remembered
for
any
startling
new
interpretation
of
this
critical
period
in
American
life,
but
it
does
a
splendid
job
of
surveying
the
era.
The
author has
sampled
broadly
and
tells
the
story
interestingly.
To
prevent
a
slowing
of
the
story,
foot~
notes
are
used
extensively.
Perhaps
of
greatest
value
in
the
study
is
a
complete
and
critical
essay
on
authorities.
One
of
the
valuable
contributions
of
the
book
is
the
excellent
way
in
which
social,
economic
and
political
history
are
related
in
a
single
study.
Wecter
has
presented
a
well-rounded
picture
of
the
times,
from
&dquo;The
Hundred
Days&dquo;
to
jitterbugging.
This
book
will
be
important
be-
cause
of
the
large
audience
it
will
reach.
A
rizona
State
College
.
JOHN
G.
WESTOVER.
The
Pollsters:
Public
Opinion,
Politics,
and
Democratic
Leadership.
BY
LINDSAY
ROGERS.
(New
York:
Alfred
A.
Knopf.
1948.
Pp.
vii,
239.
$2.75.)
Professor
Rogers
indicates
that
he
assumes
his
task
more
in
sorrow
than
in
a
spirit
of
censure
but
the
impression
is
inescapable
that
he
has
come
to
bury
the
Pollstergeist
with
more
glee
than
humble
grief.
For
the
pollsters,
he
concludes,
have
been
&dquo;taking
in
each
other’s
washing&dquo;
and
they
have
been
taken
in
themselves
in
the
process.
In
Rogers’
view
the
pollsters
have
become
a
sub-professional,
near-
charlatan
breed
apart.
In
a
lust
for
quick
professional
and
financial
re-
wards
they
have
mislaid
or
forgotten
their
lore
of
politics
and
the
con-
ceptions
of
social
psychology.
One
may
deduce
from
Rogers’
polemic
that
the
pollsters
(and
political
scientists
may
ruefully
remark
that
in
Gallup’s
fall
we
sinned
all)
went
too
eagerly
a-whoring
after
the
false
Goddess
of
apparent
simplicity
and
forsook
too
long
the
patient
explora-
tion
of
data
and
assumptions.
Thus:
The
pollsters’
sampling
methods
may
puzzle
me,
but
I
am
not
deceived
about
their
ignorance
of
the
political
world
in
which
we
live....
(p.
136)
’
And:
The
great
question
so
far
as
public
opinion
is
concerned
is
not
what
it
wants,
but
what
it
ought
to
want.
The
pollsters
cannot
make
this
discovery.
(p.
234)
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