* Seymour Sudman; Polling Expert Known for Innovations in Surveys

Seymour Sudman, 71, a polling expert at the University of Illinois known for innovations in research design. Sudman was a pioneer in the design of survey questionnaires. He also wrote about 20 books, including “Applied Sampling” and “Asking Questions,” which are considered classics in the field and are still used in colleges. His most important contributions were in the area of phrasing questions to get the most accurate answers. Sudman was intrigued by the way the wording of poll questions could influence the results. He often cautioned that poll respondents interpret words in questions in distinctly different, sometimes opposite, ways and that polls during election seasons often reflect name recognition more than actual voting habits. Both tendencies, he said, could lead to inaccurate poll findings. Born in Chicago, Sudman earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics at Roosevelt University in Chicago in 1949 and a doctorate in business from the University of Chicago in 1962. He was director of sampling at the National Opinion Research Center in Chicago from 1962 to 1968, then joined the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as a professor of business administration and sociology. In 1987 he was given the highest honor bestowed by the American Assn. for Public Opinion Research. On Tuesday in Chicago, of complications from a stroke.