Public Opinion Research as Science
The author here describes various functions and uses of public opinion research, compares it with other scientific disciplines, and suggests a new concentration on the development of conceptual frameworks for organizing the current mass of empirical data. This paper is the Presidential Address presented before the Eleventh Annual Conference on Public Opinion Research at Buck Hill Falls, Pennsylvania. Harry Alpert, of the National Science Foundation,** was the 1955-56 President of the American Association for Public Opinion Research.