It's time to rank the Poll companies: DU style.

[The Backlash Cometh]

Prior to the Kerry-Bush 2004 election, we had great threads reporting on the methodology of certain poll companies. It was discovered that certain poll companies were using questionable methods. i.e. polling more Republicans than Democrats because the poll company claimed that more Republicans voted than Democrats. Not too surprisingly, those polls always resulted in large leads for the Republican candidate.

For those who compiled this information, or have these threads bookmarked, I'm asking you to list in order the poll companies and their credibility factor. I'd like to know which poll companies you'd trust more than others, and why.

[Dogmudgeon]

1. You could post a poll, you know

Right now I am star-less. But just find the ten polls with the most mentions and assemble the DU poll.

If I see it, I will K&R it.

--p!

[The Backlash Cometh]

3. Find the ten polls?

Are you suggesting that I need to go to the DU search engines to find anything? AAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrghh!

No offense, but I'd rather subject myself to a colonoscopy than to have to find something on the DU search engines.

[Captain Hilts]

2. The important thing is consistency, so that trends can be accurately pereived.

And, remember, when firms do polls for clients, the client owns the poll and can release whatever information from that poll they like in any way they want.

Gallup's demographics vary too much and that gives greater amplitude to their swings in opinion. Maddening. In 2000 this pattern was really dramatic.

[The Backlash Cometh]

4. I know Mookie.

If there is one poll company I would not rely on, it would be Gallup because DUers have found their methodology faulty, time and time again. I just can't find those threads to convince someone else on this newsgroup.

[Bitwit1234]

5. Gallop should be the number one republican poll site.

The are owned by a republican. He supported bush and still does and his company is the one that made the public statement they polled more republicans.

[The Backlash Cometh]

7. Thank you.

[Cameron27]

6. Good question, I hope you get some answers.

There are a few DUers who seem to have a pretty good handle on this. I generally look to Mookie, (upstream) rinsd, and a few others when it comes to breaking down the polls.

[The Backlash Cometh]

8. There were threads prior to the 2004 election that listed them

and explained the political affiliation of all of them and mentioned methodology. I hope the information gets updated and reposted before too many DUers pick fights based on a poll from a polling agency that most DUers don't have much faith in.

[Cameron27]

9. Oh I didn't even realize a list existed at all,

but I agree that it should be updated. I HOPE it'll stop the infighting, but at the very least, it's good info to have.

[DerBeppo]

10. it depends

on who or what the results favor at the moment.

[The Backlash Cometh]

11. That's one way of looking at.

Another way is, that if a pollster who has strong Republican leanings is favorable to a progressive, or a neutral pollster is favorable to a Republican, it will tend to raise eyebrows.

[DerBeppo]

12. Right

but I've probably been witness to every pollster at some point be hailed as Mercury straight from Olympus and at some point be demonized as a republican bullhorn.