Twenty Questions to Ask About a Poll
This came from a comment on my "How a poll is contructed" entry. It is 20 questions that a journalist asks about a poll, but I think you could substitute "government teacher" in there when you discuss polling. Here are some of the questions: Who did the poll? Who paid for the poll and why was it done? How many people were interviewed for the survey? How were those people chosen? What area (nation, state, or region) or what group (teachers,lawyers, Democratic voters, etc.) were these people chosen from? Are the results based on the answers of all the people interviewed? Who should have been interviewed and was not? Or do response rates matter?
When was the poll done? and more on the website.