# Mervin Field > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Mervin_Field > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Mervin_Field.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mervin_Field > Source revision: 1239329114 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|American pollster}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2015}} {{Infobox person | name = Mervin Field | image = | caption = | birth_date = {{birth date|1921|3|11}} | birth_place = [New Brunswick, New Jersey](/source/New_Brunswick%2C_New_Jersey), U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2015|6|8|1921|3|11}} | death_place = [Mill Valley, California](/source/Mill_Valley%2C_California), U.S. | death_cause = | known_for = Founder, [Field Research Corporation](/source/Field_Research_Corporation) | occupation = Pollster | party = }} '''Mervin Field''' (March 11, 1921 – June 8, 2015) was an American pollster of [public opinion](/source/public_opinion) in the state of California.{{cite news|last1=Barabak|first1=Mark Z.|last2=Woo|first2=Elaine|title=Mervin D. Field dies at 94; creator of California opinion gauge now called Field Poll|url=http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-mervin-field-20150608-story.html#page=1|accessdate=June 13, 2015|work=Los Angeles Times|date=June 8, 2015}} == Biography == Field was born in 1921, the youngest of five children,{{cite news|last1=Nagourey|first1=Adam|title=Mervin Field Dies at 94; Took Pulse of California as Pollster|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/12/us/politics/mervin-field-dies-at-94-took-political-pulse-of-california-as-pollster.html?ref=obituaries&_r=0|accessdate=June 13, 2015|work=New York Times|date=June 11, 2015}} in [New Brunswick, New Jersey](/source/New_Brunswick%2C_New_Jersey).{{cite web|last=Halstead|first=Richard|title=Mervin Field parlayed poker winnings into respected opinion research firm|date=October 10, 2012|url=http://www.marinij.com/ci_21744301/mervin-field-parlayed-poker-winnings-into-respected-opinion|publisher=marinij.com|accessdate=November 8, 2013}} He grew up in [Princeton, New Jersey](/source/Princeton%2C_New_Jersey) and graduated from [Princeton High School](/source/Princeton_High_School_(New_Jersey)) in 1938. His parents were Jewish emigrants from Russia. His subsequent formal education was limited to a few months each at [Rutgers University](/source/Rutgers_University) night school, the [University of Missouri](/source/University_of_Missouri) and the [U.S. Merchant Marine Academy](/source/United_States_Merchant_Marine_Academy). His first experience with survey research was in his high school junior year, when in a chance occurrence he was introduced to the polling pioneer, Dr. [George Gallup](/source/George_Gallup). Field's first survey was in determining student preferences for his high school senior class president.Rogers, Paul. [http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/article/NE/20161209/NEWS/161209726 "Field Poll shutting down at end of year"], ''[Santa Cruz Sentinel](/source/Santa_Cruz_Sentinel)'', December 9, 2016. Accessed October 2, 2017. "His first encounter with polling was a chance meeting with George Gallup, founder of the Gallup Poll. Intrigued, Field took a survey of fellow students at his school, Princeton High School, in the late 1930s about their preference for class president. Field eventually worked for the Gallup Poll in Princeton, New Jersey." Prior to [World War II](/source/World_War_II), Field worked for [Opinion Research Corporation](/source/Opinion_Research_Corporation) (ORC) and the [Gallup Poll](/source/Gallup_Poll) in [Princeton, New Jersey](/source/Princeton%2C_New_Jersey). He founded the Field Research Corporation (FRC), a commercial consumer and opinion research practice operating locally, regionally and nationally. He married Virginia Fallon in 1949, and later divorced. Field was married to Marilyn Hammer from 1957 until her death in 2006. Field died in 2015, of natural causes.{{cite web|url=http://www.tributes.com/obituary/show/Mervin-Field-102559282 |title=Mr. Mervin Field - Celebrity Death - Obituaries at |publisher=Tributes.com |date= |accessdate=2022-10-09}} ==Field Poll== The Field Poll was an independent, [nonpartisan](/source/Nonpartisanism) public opinion news service, with a focus on California. It shut down at the end of 2016. As of late 2009, it has published more than 2300 reports. It relied on financial support from newspapers and television stations, the [University of California](/source/University_of_California), the [California State University](/source/California_State_University) system, and various non-profit foundations, not from political candidates or interests. Since 1956, the Poll has deposited its survey data with the University of California and California State University campuses, to make them available for scholars, media, and public policy makers. It is a unique and rich archive that is used in political science, journalism. sociology, and survey research methodology courses. ==References== {{reflist}} == External links == *[http://www.scienceliteracyproject.org/workshops/san-francisco-march-2006/presenters/mervin-field the Mervin Field] at the Science Literacy Project *[http://www.field.com/ The Field Research Corporation] {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Field, Mervin}} Category:1921 births Category:2015 deaths Category:Opinion polling in the United States Category:People from New Brunswick, New Jersey Category:People from Princeton, New Jersey Category:People from the San Francisco Bay Area Category:Princeton High School (New Jersey) alumni Category:American people of Russian-Jewish descent Category:Pollsters Category:Rutgers University alumni --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Mervin Field](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mervin_Field) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mervin_Field?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.