Psephology � A scientific study about election | Kalvimalar - News

Psephology � A scientific study about election - 21-Nov-2009

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The term �Psephology� is derived from the Greek term �psephos� which means pebble, which the Greeks used as ballots and �logy� denotes a field of study or academic discipline. Hence the term means the scientific study of elections and voting behavior.

Psephologists are the professionals engaged in studying the election patterns and deviations.

They utilize the tools like past election�s facts and figures and public opinion polls to arrive at a conclusion. Their job scope mainly encompasses analyzing aspects like trends in voting, swings in votes; number of votes polled or percentage of total votes polled translating into the number of seats in the government. They also try to find out the answers for questions like the number of percentage swing in the votes that may lead to change in the government. Hence Psephologists play a constructive role in any democratic set up.

Educational Qualifications: Generally, a Post Graduation either in Political Science or Sociology stream would be desirable. Apart from this, a person must have a statistical mind, an eye for minute details, a deep understanding of the demographic patterns of the region / area, and a strong understanding of the caste dynamics and a sharp political sense are vital for becoming a successful Psephologist.

Prediction of the polls result is just a part of Psephologist role. Collecting the complete poll details and analyzing is also the work of a Psephologist. As the questions asked in opinion polls are likely to bring out drastic changes, hence selecting apt question and obtaining the right answer is a challenging task. The other important tasks of the �Psephologists� are to prepare apt questions, record the precise answers and coming to conclusion after analyzing without any biased opinions.

It is a difficult task to predict the election results particularly in a sub-continent like India that comprises of different social, cultural background. Beyond this, as for as this field is concerned it is truly a difficult task to get the name that the person is good at predicting the poll results.

Nature of work: As this work is related with only elections, it is confined to a particular period. Psephologists are suddenly flooded with offers during and before elections. Therefore, those involved in this field do not choose it as full-time job, but specifically work only during election time. Ruling political parties use Psephologists to find out the mindset of the people.

Initially, those who enter into this field start-off as trainee, and then later with some years of experience they become experts. Experts only can feel the slender disparity between the right and wrong decisions. Hence, such experienced and skilled Psephologists are always highly regarded. Their salary shoots up according to the skills that they possess.

In the last few years we happen to see that media and political parties are highly dependent on Psephologists. They can also work as market research analysts. The field of Psephology, which is also known as political astrology, is getting very good recognition due to the development of IT sector.

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