Abstract After a rocky start, polls became ubiquitous in the twentieth century in a variety of fields. However, the courts generally resisted accepting polls and other social science evidence until the early 1950s, on the grounds that they were hearsay. But while social scientists understand reputation in a variety of ways, the law sees an individual’s reputation as a social phenomenon. This makes the opinions of others an inherent part of the legal claim of defamation, and polls an obvious type of evidence in such cases. But use of polling evidence in defamation cases remains rare. This article examines courts’ acceptance of polling data as evidence in defamation cases, including the actual cases in which it has been used as evidence, and concludes with recommendations on how defamation litigants and courts considering defamation cases can use such evidence.

中文翻译：

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通过数字进行诽谤：在诽谤诉讼中使用民意测验

摘要在经历了艰难的开端之后，民意调查在20世纪的各个领域变得无处不在。但是，直到1950年代初，法院才以传闻为由拒绝接受民意测验和其他社会科学证据。但是，尽管社会科学家以多种方式理解声誉，但法律将个人的声誉视为一种社会现象。这使得他人的意见成为诽谤法律主张的固有组成部分，并且在这种情况下调查明显的证据类型。但是在诽谤案件中使用投票证据的情况仍然很少。本文研究了法院在诽谤案件中是否接受轮询数据作为证据，包括在实际情况下将其用作证据的证据，