canvassing

verb

1. (form-of, gerund, participle, present)present participle and gerund of canvass

noun

1. The act of one who canvasses or solicits.

   “The thoroughness required by your explicit instructions, together with the strong desire that these repeated canvassings should be executed in so careful a manner as to establish reliable data, has no doubt tended materially to produce the gratifying result.”