The CSDS has pioneered large-scale empirical studies of the social and cultural basis of politics in South Asia. The tradition of sample surveys dates back to 1963 when the first survey was conducted in Kerala during the Assembly elections in the state. The period from 1963 to 1980 could be termed as the first phase of survey research at the CSDS. This was also the period when the National Election Studies (NES) series started in India. The first cross-section national sample survey was held in 1967. This was followed by the NES 1971 and 1980. Though the NES-1980 was not strictly part of the NES series, it can be used to fill in the gap in the time-series data. The study was designed by CSDS and the fieldwork was conducted by IIPO (Indian Institute of Public Opinion). After 1980 there were few state level and constituency level studies, but cross-section sample surveys did not occur on the intellectual agenda of the Centre. The mid-1990s witnessed a renewed interest in empirical work beginning with the Bihar Assembly elections 1995. Soon after that the CSDS undertook a comprehensive study for the 1996 Parliamentary elections, when a panel of respondents were surveyed for four waves (Pre-Poll, Mid-Poll, Exit-Poll and Post-Poll). During the 1998 and 1999 Parliamentary elections the same panel of respondents were surveyed.
In the last decade the Lokniti programme of the Centre has carried ahead its tradition of sample surveys. Besides pre-election and post-election analysis, Lokniti has also diversified into election forecasting and popular public opinion polls. Between 1996 and 2004 at least one wave of survey has been conducted for all the major State Assembly Elections, besides all the four Parliamentary elections. The Delhi Survey of 1998 and 2003 stand out as unique studies. They were conducted in all the 70 assembly seats of Delhi and each MLA (Member of Legislative Assembly) was given a ‘Report Card’. In this period another unique feature of CSDS Post-Poll surveys is that respondents are interviewed after voting ends and before the results are declared.
The year 2006 marked the beginning of a new phase (third phase) in survey research, when the Lokniti network engaged itself not only in regular election surveys, but besides that, also started undertaking regular polls on issues of current social and political importance. The bi-annual poll conducted in the month of January and August in collaboration with the news media is called the State of the Nation Survey (SONS). In the third phase of survey research, besides SONS Lokniti has also conducted various state assembly elections surveys (Pre-polls, Exit-polls and Post-polls), an exclusive survey of Southern States and a special survey aimed at evaluating the performance of Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh. Regular opinion polling has enabled us to institute a political barometer, which has been useful in accessing and monitoring the political mood in India every six months. |
