AP U.S. Government and Politics · Free-response skill

Read a poll table

The move. Read an exact value from a poll table, describe the pattern, draw a conclusion about ideology or socialization, and name one limit of the data.

How to do it

  1. Read the title, the dates, the sample size and the column labels before any number. Know what each number is a percent of.
  2. When asked for a value, give the exact number from the table, with its unit (percent) and the group it belongs to.
  3. To describe a pattern, move across the groups in one direction and say which way the numbers go, such as "as age rises, agreement falls". Two numbers from the ends make it concrete.
  4. A conclusion goes one step past the numbers. Link the pattern to a course idea, such as liberal and conservative views on the role of government or a generational or life-cycle effect, and point to the numbers that back it.
  5. Every poll has limits. Name one that fits this poll: a single point in time, larger sampling error for small subgroups, the wording of one question, or what the poll does not measure, such as why people answered as they did.

Practice prompt Try it

Respondents were asked whether they agree with this statement: "The government should do more to solve the country's problems."

Hypothetical survey of 1,600 adults, March 3 to 9, 2026. Margin of error: about plus or minus 2.5 percentage points for the full sample, larger for each age group.

Age groupAdults surveyedPercent who agree
18 to 2930064
30 to 4440055
45 to 6450046
65 and older40038

Use the table to answer each part.

  1. Tell what percent of adults ages 30 to 44 agreed with the statement.
  2. Say how agreement changes as you move from the youngest age group to the oldest.
  3. Using the table, give one conclusion about political ideology or political socialization that the numbers support.
  4. Name one thing these data cannot tell you, or one reason to be careful with them.

Write each part, then check yourself against the checklist. Nothing you type here is saved or graded.

Check yourself and see a model answer

Checklist

Our own checklist of what a full answer does, one line per point. Tick each one your response earns.

0 of 4 points

Model answer, annotated

(a) According to the table, 55 percent of adults ages 30 to 44 agreed that the government should do more.

  • Point 1 Gives the exact value, 55 percent, for the right age group.

(b) Agreement falls as age rises, from 64 percent of adults ages 18 to 29 down to 38 percent of adults 65 and older, a drop of 26 points.

  • Point 2 States the direction of the pattern and backs it with the two end values.

(c) Younger adults lean more toward the liberal view that government should take a bigger role in solving problems, while older adults lean more toward the conservative view of a smaller role. This may be a generational effect, with each age group shaped by what was happening as it grew up.

  • Point 3 Draws a conclusion about ideology tied to the falling agreement, and links it to a socialization idea.

(d) The poll was taken at one point in time, so it cannot tell whether today's young adults will keep these views as they age or move toward older adults' views, a life-cycle effect.

  • Point 4 Names an accurate limit: a single survey cannot separate generational from life-cycle effects.