Goldstein, WPRI to provide new polling, insight
(Note: This article was updated on Feb. 9, 2010 to correct the statement that this poll was a partnership between the UW–Madison Department of Political Science and the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute (WPRI). In fact, the poll was directed by Ken Goldstein, a UW–Madison political science professor, working with WPRI.)
Ken Goldstein, a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute (WPRI) are joining forces to conduct frequent, detailed polling of Wisconsinites.
WPRI — a nonpartisan, not-for-profit think tank — has been conducting independent, annual polls on politics and issues for more than 20 years. Working with Goldstein, the institute will now survey state residents every four months.
Poll results will be provided to media outlets throughout the state and also feed in-depth research projects involving both WPRI and university faculty and graduate students.
“Too often, policymakers assume they know how people think,” says George Lightbourn, president of WPRI. “They don’t, unless they ask. This sort of polling gives invaluable insight into what Wisconsinites are really thinking.”
Goldstein is also director of the Wisconsin Advertising Project at UW–Madison. Known for his non-partisan, unbiased research, Goldstein has worked on national network election night coverage in every U.S. federal election since 1988, and is currently a consultant for the ABC News elections unit. During the 2008 presidential election, he was also the co-founder and director of the Big Ten Battleground Poll.
“The Wisconsin Idea teaches us that we should share our research outside the boundaries of the university and I can think of no better way than to talk to the people of Wisconsin and learn what they are thinking and then share that information,” says Goldstein.
Results from the first poll — including questions about the economy, education, health care and the Wisconsin gubernatorial race — will be available in early October.
