Do you want to find out more about public opinion on a given candidate or issue? Two excellent sources for public opinion polls dealing with politics and government are the Gallup Organization (www.gallup.com) and the Harris Poll (www.harrispollonline.com), two of the most respected polling and survey institutions in the nation.

News services are also excellent sources of political information on both public opinion and political participation. Three very good sources are All Politics from Time magazine and CNN Television (www.allpolitics.com), Roll Call Online (the Capitol Hill newspaper, at www.rollcall.com), and Slate, a magazine on politics and popular culture (www.slate.com).

Do you want to find out more about how Americans think about candidates and issues?

• Visit either the Gallup Poll or the Harris Poll web site and see what issues are being surveyed by the pollsters. Find out how your opinions compare with those of Americans in general and those of specific groups of individuals.
  
  
• Visit any two of the web sites listed above and select an issue that interests you and is dealt with in both polls. Do the polls report similar results? What might explain differences in results between the polls? Consider the importance of the wording of the question and the dates when the polls were taken.