Who is a pollster and what do they do? A pollster conducts surveys in order to find out what public opinion is regarding matters raised by organisations or companies or governments.
What are the activities of the pollster job? According to the instructions received, carries out interviews in homes or any other appropriate place; may give out questionnaires in order to obtain the data required for surveys, censuses, statistics etc. or may use these as prompts for his/her own interviews by telephone or in person; explains to the people interviewed how to interpret the questionnaires if there are any difficulties; once filled in, must check that there is no data lacking and that there has been on mistake in filling it in.
Where is it done and under what conditions? In contact with people in their homes, in the street, in shops or even over the telephone. Sometimes people may not want to collaborate and may be hostile.
What tools/equipment do they use? Questionnaires, envelopes, directories, telephones and computers, especially databases and spreadsheets.
What do you need to succeed? You need a basic level of educational studies although it is advisable to have graduated from high school. Depending on the type of survey or study, it may be necessary to have a knowledge of statistics.