"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Entries are arranged alphabetically under main headings, such as abortion; Clinton, Bill; and wages; and then under subheadings, such as health care and leadership under the Clinton heading. Individual index entries are based on abbreviated versions of the actual survey questions, with the result that most entries convey enough information to help a user decide on whether to pursue the reference. For example, under health care in the Clinton section there are entries such as better job handling, or Bush (that is, have Bush or Clinton done a better job with health care) and government involved in your health care, too much or too little. Year or years and page numbers of specific Gallup Poll volumes are provided for each specific entry. Because of the detail provided, there are relatively few headings with large numbers of undifferentiated locators, but even in these cases, locators are arranged by date, so that a chronological time line is offered for such questions. Entries with sufficient detail and without too many undifferentiated locators are both indicators of an effective index.
The problems with the index relate to its formatting and arrangement for presentation. In contrast to standard conventions for printed indexes, continuation lines are missing from most columns when subheadings continue from one column to the next under the same main heading. The lack of these continuation lines make scanning and browsing the index difficult. Even more serious are the very slight indentations provided for sub-subheadings--only the width of a single character--with the result that it is not immediately clear that one is actually reading sub-subheadings that relate only to a previous subheading. A much deeper indention should have been used. Similarly, long main headings are not given hanging indents when they extend to a second line. These formatting problems seem trivial in isolation, but when spread across a large index, they unnecessarily interfere with rapid and effective consultation and comprehension.
Arrangement of the index is also problematic. This index uses the "letter-by-letter" rather than the more commonly accepted "word-by-word" approach, so that the two headings men and men or women, for example, are separated by several other headings, including Menendez, Eric and menopause hormone therapy. The index does provide some useful cross-references, but their placement is not in accordance with the best practice. Instead of placing see also references at the beginning of a long list of subheadings, they are placed at the very end, so that only the most persistent user will ever see them.
Overall, this is a very effective index, made much harder to use because of faulty formatting and presentation. Other features, not related to the index itself, include a "Gallup Poll Accuracy Record" and "Gallup Poll Sampling Procedures." Despite the unfortunate flaws in this index, libraries having the complete set of 25 volumes spanning the Gallup Poll public opinion series from 1935 to 1997 will want to have it.
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Book Description Condition: New. A guide to the Gallup Poll public opinion surveys. Editor(s): Gallup, Alec M., Jr.; Gallup, George, Jr. Series: Gallup Polls Annual (RL). Num Pages: 596 pages. BIC Classification: 1KBB; 3JJG; 3JJH; 3JJP; GBC; JPVK. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 240 x 203 x 39. Weight in Grams: 1134. . 1999. Hardback. . . . . Seller Inventory # V9780842025874
Book Description Condition: New. A guide to the Gallup Poll public opinion surveys. Editor(s): Gallup, Alec M., Jr.; Gallup, George, Jr. Series: Gallup Polls Annual (RL). Num Pages: 596 pages. BIC Classification: 1KBB; 3JJG; 3JJH; 3JJP; GBC; JPVK. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 240 x 203 x 39. Weight in Grams: 1134. . 1999. Hardback. . . . . Books ship from the US and Ireland. Seller Inventory # V9780842025874