Psephology


Psephology is the study of elections and voting. Psephology attempts to both forecast and explain election results.
The term is more common in Britain and in those English-speaking communities that rely heavily on the British standard of the language.
Psephology uses historical precinct voting data, public opinion polls, campaign finance information and similar statistical data. The term was coined in 1948 by W. F. R. Hardie in the United Kingdom after R. B. McCallum, a friend of Hardie's, requested a word to describe the study of elections. Its first documented usage in writing appeared in 1952.

Etymology

The term draws from the Greek word for pebble as the ancient Greeks used pebbles to vote.

Applications

Psephology is a division of political science that deals with the examination as well as the statistical analysis of elections and polls. People who practise psephology are called psephologists.
A few of the major tools that are used by a psephologist are historical precinct voting data, campaign finance information, and other related data. Public opinion polls also play an important role in psephology. Psephology also has various applications specifically in analysing the results of election returns for current indicators, as opposed to predictive purposes. For instance, the Gallagher Index measures the amount of proportional representation in an election.
Degrees in psephology are not offered. Knowledge of demographics, statistical analysis and politics are prerequisites for becoming a psephologist.

Notable psephologists

Notable psephologists include: