German
The term "Hessians" refers to the approximately 30,000 German troops hired by the British to help fight during the American Revolution. They were principally drawn from the German state of Hesse-Cassel, although soldiers from other German states also saw action in America.
The main purpose of public opinion polls is to gain data/information on how citizens feel about a particular topic, event, or political candidate. For example, one of the most popular political polls we see usually asks citizens to assess the president's recent actions. This type of question allows for a general understanding of what people like/dislike about the president.
Public opinion polls, however, can be used for almost any topic. From their, people will analyze the information in order to understand what things can be improved on or what exactly the citizens want.