MIPO was founded in 1978 by Dr. Lee Miringoff, former President of the National Council of Public Polls, as a poll on Dutchess County elections for a political science class he was teaching on voting behavior.[6][7][8] MIPO was reportedly the first college-based survey center in the nation to involve undergraduates in the direct interaction and conducting of all its surveys.[9]
While most of the polls are political in nature, MIPO does frequently conduct polls deemed to be in other areas of public interest. Other subjects commonly polled by MIPO include sports, economics, society and technology.[10][11]
During the summer of 2013, MIPO announced they have conducted a survey on Performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) in Major League Baseball. Specifically, the poll asked whether or not players linked to clinics that provide PEDs, such as Biogenesis, should be suspended—even if they did not fail a drug test. The second question asked if players who used PEDs should receive eligibility for the Hall of Fame.[14]
On the October 22, 2013 edition of Real Sports that HBO's longtime, sports-themed monthly newsmagazine and the Marist Poll have launched a new, indefinite joint-polling initiative.[15] Towards the end of the program on October 22, hostBryant Gumbel announced the results of a HBO Real Sports/Marist Poll: a comprehensive national survey conducted by the Marist Poll in mid-July, 2013 with more than 1,200 Americans over the age of 17 on the topic of concussions and brain traumainfootball.[15]
In 2015, Marist temporarily suspended polling of the candidates for nomination during the Democratic primaries and Republican primaries out of concern that polls were being inappropriately used to decide who was included and excluded from the primaries.[16][17]
