Poll can be used as a synonym for survey.
Polling is the procedure and result of polling . This verb refers to the inquiries or surveys that are carried out to obtain a first overview of a topic.
For example: "The survey commissioned by the Government reveals that people do not agree with the legislators' proposal" , "Before launching the new product, it will be better that we do a survey among potential consumers to find out what they they want" , "The club authorities carried out a survey to find out what the residents' opinions are about the sports centre" .
Electoral polls
When general elections are going to take place in any country, it is common for polls to be carried out with the clear purpose of knowing the opinion of the people and "predicting" what the result will be. These may refer not only to the parties participating in the elections but also to their own leaders.
However, in electoral matters, there is also what is called an exit poll. As its name indicates, it is one that is carried out through a survey of all those who have come to vote and which consists of asking them who they have supported, once they have already deposited their ballot in the corresponding ballot box.
Electoral polls aim to anticipate the outcome of the elections according to what voters say.
Get an opinion
The purpose of whoever conducts a survey is to know what a social group or society in general thinks about an issue. For this, a questionnaire is usually prepared that is presented to people in different ways (through a personal interview, a telephone call, online , etc.) to collect responses. Based on what the interviewees said, it is possible to draw conclusions regarding the predominant opinion.
Suppose that a newspaper intends to publish an article about the repercussions of a legislative project that must be voted on shortly. As part of the work of preparing said article, the newspaper hires a consulting firm that is in charge of conducting a survey. In this way, the consultant will make phone calls to different cities in the country to gather opinions and provide the broadest possible overview of how the population received the legislative proposal.
Survey in medicine and geology
In medicine and geology , finally, the notion of drilling is used to refer to procedures carried out with probes or similar tubes.
Specifically, we find, for example, what is known as urethral sounding . This is an action that is carried out by doctors on a patient and its clear objective is to improve the diameter of the patient's urethra or to try to find out if there is any type of obstruction in that area. It is carried out by inserting a series of medical tubes into it, which are known as probes.
Likewise, we cannot ignore what is called oil drilling . This is undertaken in certain areas with the clear purpose of discovering if there is a reserve of said fuel in a specific area. It is necessary to emphasize that said survey can be of various types such as magnetic, electrical, sonic...