Multiple-Choice Polls

• Multiple-choice polls give the field of poll-takers a set of choices to pick from. Multiple-choice polls can usually contain from two to 10 choices, and the data can be displayed in the form of total votes for each choice, total percentage of votes for each choice, or in a chart or graph. These polls are typically conducted to gauge the general public's thoughts about a certain topic and can be given anywhere, including in newspapers, on the Internet and in person.
  
  

Grading Poll

• In a grading poll, poll-takers are usually presented with one or more things that they must assign a number to, based on their opinion of the performance or ranking of that thing. For example, a restaurant poll might ask customers how they would grade a certain aspect of their service on a scale of 1-10, with 1 being the lowest score and 10 being the highest.
  
  

Ordering Poll

• An ordering poll gives poll-takers a set of objects for them to place in sequential order from best to worst. This poll is similar to a grading poll, but whereas a grading poll asks subjects to assess each object with a separate grade independent from the rest, an ordering poll joins each piece together into one field and asks the poll-takers to order them in relation to each other.
  
  

Political Polls

• Political polls are a different type of polling that is used extensively during political campaigns, especially for presidential elections. Political polls can range from simple polls, such as "horse race polls," which simply ask voters whom they would vote for if the election were held today, to more complicated polls that require large sample sizes, such as cluster analysis polls. Cluster analysis polls divide the sample of people that were polled into smaller subdivisions, or clusters, based on certain characteristics or beliefs, and the results are analyzed based on these samples. A more common type of political poll is the exit poll, taken on the day of an election by polling the people who have just voted, asking them questions related to their votes and to the election in general. These polls are used to project election results after voting polls have closed.