An approval rating is a
polling term which reflects the percent of respondents to an
opinion poll who approve of a particular person or program. Most often an approval rating is given to a
political figure based on responses to a poll in which a sample of people are asked whether they approve or disapprove of that particular political figure. A typical question might ask:"Which of the following best describes your opinion of the things President George W. Bush has done: strongly approve, somewhat approve, somewhat disapprove, strongly disapprove, or no opinion/undecided."
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