Hunter Bacot uses polls as a learning tool.
As head of the Elon University Poll since 2005, the professor of public administration has used four student interns, members of a class on polling and paid student workers to poll North Carolinians.
That suits Bacot just fine. A native North Carolinian, he taught public administration at UNC-Charlotte and still teaches two courses a semester at Elon.
The university conducts an average of five polls during the academic year. Randomized phone numbers from a Connecticut firm are used to generate a list, while live operators read questions with rotating wording to reduce wording bias.
Elon's polls are not done for any client, so Bacot focuses more on general issues than specific campaigns. An exception is during major election years, when he'll craft questions about the races for president, governor and U.S. Senate.
Bacot, 46, says they do not screen for registered or likely voters. That makes them slightly less reliable for predicting elections, which often hinge on turnout, but Bacot says that's not the purpose.
"Our perspective is that everyone is a part of the democratic process, whether they participate or not," he said. "Some people think that's a bad thing, but we think that if you live in the state you deserve a voice."
