India is the second largest populated country in the world, with a staggering majority of 1.4 Billion people. And each head from this 1.4 Billion, contributes as a challenge for political survey companies. Our nation’s population and geography are huge. It comprises a plethora of religions, casts, races, socio-economic statuses, cultures, etc. This diversity makes the accuracy of the political survey a little ambiguous.
With this range of diversity and complex behaviors, simply knowing your voter’s persona is not enough. A political party needs to know what their voters in every demographic think and why! This is where a political survey company enters the picture. These companies partner with you to navigate different voter perspectives and gain a keen insight.
What is a Political Survey?
A political survey is a Q&A session between the political party and the voters, and the political survey agency conducting the survey acts as a mediator. It is a prominent tool used by various political parties to gain a deep insight into the thoughts and ideologies of their audience. It helps a political party to perceive what their voters think about them, their pain points, whether they resonate with specific political propaganda, and to find the potential voter base.
What is Demographic Diversity in India?
India is a diverse country with multiple diversional factors like:
- Language – India is home to 22 different officially recognized languages and hundreds of other dialects.Religion – We are a secular nation that includes all casts and religions like – Hindu, Muslim, Punjabi, Christians, Sikhs, etc.
- Caste – Cast and race diversity still contributes to the political environment and affects voter’s decisions.
- Economic Status – The contrast between rural and urban areas helps the political party to identify its target message to attract a voter base.
- Region – Every state in India has a different political landscape, culture, and issues that need to be addressed.
What Methodologies Do the Political Survey Companies Use to Handle Diverse Demographics?
Sampling Technique
The sampling method is the backbone of any political survey. It ensures that the sample chosen represents a particular part of the population ideally. The political survey company can use the following sampling method to ensure data accuracy:
- Divide the sample thus used according to the nation’s diversity. This can be done by dividing the sample population based on region, and further dividing it into states and districts.
- Recognize the rural and urban population.
- Classify the population based on their different income levels, religion, caste, culture, etc.
A sample can be further used by bifurcating it into quotas based on demographics such as – age, gender, caste, religion, etc.
Survey Designs & Questionnaires
The most important aspect of any political survey is to design a questionnaire that is impactful and resonates with the audience. A questionnaire should be such that it addresses all the questions and the asks of a political party. A few points to consider in survey designs:
- Surveys should be created in local languages, or in the language of the voter’s choice. It should be clean and should not include any foul language, questions, or meaning.
- Questionnaires should be pre-tested beforehand to detect any mistake and rectify it before it is actually used.
Questions based on caste, religion, family status, income, etc. such sensitive points should be delicately addressed in the questionnaire. - A questionnaire should avoid questions that may hurt others’ sentiments based on any criteria.
Data Collection & Analytics
- Data collection– is the most basic yet important step in survey and analysis. The data collection method should accommodate all data types in every setting.
- Face-to-Face Interview – In many rural areas, where a majority of the population is not literate, face-to-face interviews for data collection become important. Trained field workers need to take these interviews in the local language to understand the cultural context of the interview.
- Telephonic Surveys – This method is more feasible and suitable for urban areas, where everybody has access to the internet.
- Online Surveys – These days many newspapers and media agencies conduct online surveys where they can capture data from a large audience. This method becomes useful for a larger audience.
Addressing Regional Differences
India is a diverse country, and each region and locality has a different political approach, which needs to be addressed delicately. These political survey companies help in achieving this in the following ways:
Regional Contribution – These political survey agencies collaborate with local organizations or companies who have a better insight into regional research and understanding.
Tailored Survey – The political survey companies conducting the survey need to design region-specific surveys to get a deeper understanding of their pain points and regional issues.
What Challenges Does Political Survey Companies Face?
Biases in Response – Respondents might be very critical but could be cautious of speaking honestly. They might give a safe answer on sensitive topics like religion, casts, etc. Survey companies should focus on minimizing this bias by cautiously incorporating such questions.
Privacy Concerns – Politics is a crude game, and people usually do not want to be involved in it. Surveys should be designed to minimize personal questions and actually put questions that target the subject of the survey.
Accessibility – while some areas can be easily covered, remote or rural areas can be hard to trace. This way these survey companies omit to include all strata of the population.
Conclusion
Indian politics is one of the most complex arrangements globally. Indian political survey companies struggle to keep up with it. However, these survey companies fight to provide the best of the best services by ensuring dignity and honesty. With the advancement of technology, the methodology of these political surveys would improve and will make the survey results more accountable.
