Midcoast Senior College
Polls, Surveys, and the English Language
by Howard Schuman
In his career life, Howard Schuman is a Research Scientist in the Institute for Social Research (ISR) and Professor of Sociology, both Emeritus and both at the University of Michigan. His research interests include experiments on the way in which questions asked in national surveys shape the answers people give; the effects of age on collective memories of public events; and long-term changes in racial attitudes.
In 1994, Howard and his wife Jo moved to Phippsburg, but Howard continues to do research through ISR in Ann Arbor. Here at Senior College Howard is both an instructor and a student; he has taken our courses on poetry and genetics, and he offers our students courses out of his own interests. This semester just past, Jo Schuman offered us her studio class in Multicultural Art, based on her textbook, Art from Many Hands, Multicultural Art Projects.
Howard writes: I’ve been involved with polls and surveys over most of my career. People sometimes ask what the distinction is between a “poll” and a “survey.” In earlier times there were differences in the way samples were drawn and answers were treated, but these differences have largely disappeared. Yet both terms remain in use. The main distinction now has to do with the origin of words and their appeal to different parts of the population.
Our English vocabulary has two major sources: its original Anglo-Saxon base, dating from the first millennium after Christ, and the addition of new words following the Norman Conquest in 1066. The earlier period connects English to Germanic roots; the latter to Latin, at first through French and then more directly as scholars and scientists went in search of new terms. The two sources often lead to duplication in a literal sense, but with differences in connotation that we all recognize, whether consciously or not. Thus our food comes from cows, pigs, and sheep, words of Anglo-Saxon origin; but once prepared it is transformed into the French beef, pork, and mutton (boeuf, porc, mouton). The barnyard character of the first three words reflects the fact that the conquered Anglo-Saxons tended the farms, while the culinary suggestion of the latter comes from the tables of the conquering Normans. Similarly, we have a set of everyday Anglo-Saxon words for parts of the body--mouth, eye, ear, and the like--and parallel but fancier terms from Latin, such as oral cavity. The most divergent connotations of all appear when one considers the four-letter terms that make up our store of vulgar expressions. Many of these are Old English words, whereas their polite equivalents are obviously Latinate in character.
As these last examples suggest, words of Anglo-Saxon origin tend to be shorter, blunter, and sound more ordinary in the sense of mass usage. Words coming from French or Latin convey greater refinement, with more appeal to the educated ear. A distinction between "polls" and "surveys" is now evident. "Poll" is a four letter word, thought to be from an ancient Germanic term referring to "head," as in counting heads. The two-syllable word "survey" comes from the French surveeir, which in turn derives from Latin super (over) and vidre (to look). The first is therefore an expression with appeal to a wider public, the intended consumers of Gallup and other polls. The second fits the needs of academics in universities who wish to emphasize the scientific character of their work. Since the academics perceive themselves to be regarded with some suspicion by their colleagues in the traditional sciences and humanities, it’s important for them to differentiate their work from the transient poll reports that appear in the mass media. As in many other social contexts, a distinction in names is called upon to maintain the difference.
A test of this idea may be close at hand, for recently some commercial organizations have begun to refer to their products as surveys, rather than as polls--an effort at social mobility through renaming, much as occurs in other areas of life. This may make academic researchers uncomfortable, and we will see if social necessity leads to new words--or, to translate into Latinate English--additional refinements in terminology. HS