Polls: Do they measure opinion or shape it?

[Syrinx]

I mean real ones. Like Gallup, etc..

Aren't we just taking their word for it? Are their records open to inspection?

[LosinIt]

1. I've always said that people's opinions aren't like widgets

I understand how statistically you can take a small representative sample, measure it, and extrapolate those results out over the entire group. But I just don't think that people's opinions work the same way. Take, for example, one of my good friends. We have both been in shitty marriages, some hot affairs, and are now in good marriages. We have similar economic and educational backgrounds. She's Republican, I am a Deaniac. So, on paper, we would look like we would have similar opinions, but they couldn't be more different.

Yes, I do believe that a poll can also sway opinion. People like to be with the in crowd.