Who are they polling? No, seriously

[PatSeg]

I know this question is becoming redundant, but I'm curious as to the experiences of people here.

Have you ever been polled?

Do you answer your home phone or do you let the machine pickup?

Do you just use a cell phone? If so, do you answer calls from numbers you don't know? Or do you let it go to voice mail?

Do you have a job where you call people at home? If so, how often does a live person answer?

In my case - I rarely use my home phone. It is part of my broadband package and I let the answering machine take the calls. I don't generally answer my cell phone if I don't recognize the number as I know the caller will leave a VM if it is important.

[TheWraith]

1. It should be noted that typically they're polling samples of around 1000 people.

1000 people out of 300,000,000 means that your chances of being polled personally are about 1 in 300,000 for any given survey. Even if there are a thousand polls a year, your odds of personally getting a call remain low.

[PatSeg]

5. Of that 1000, do you think they might fall into certain categories

Most young people though they might vote, rarely use a landline phone. The people I call who are most likely to answer are elderly, retired people.

[SDuderstadt]

22. Yeah, I've been polled

I have been polled by NORC and several other organizations. In fact, I am a Gallup household, which means I am polled regularly by Gallup for their private clients (although the particular client is not divulged). I have a landline and cell and most polling organizations show up on my caller ID. I remember one time when a fellow member of an advertising co-op expressed doubt in the Nielsen ratings/shares because he had "never been called", which betrayed his lack of understanding of statistical sampling and polling.

If you wanted to know how many red cars there were in the US, would you honestly try to go around the country and count them all visually? Or, would you determine what a statistically valid sample was and extrapolate from there? For the life of me, I don't understand how anyone could believe that polling organizations go out of their way to be wrong, when it's reasonable to assume they would not get many clients if they could not demonstrate a reasonable degree of accuracy. Of course, I am not claiming there isn't such a thing as push polling (which really isn't a "poll" to begin with) or even that it is not possible for a polling organization to do sloppy work (i.e., malfeasance or misfeasance on the part of staff, but there are polling oversight groups as well as internal checks and balances to assure the highest degree of accuracy in reputable firms). In fact, many years ago, I did work for polling organizations (both political - partisan and non-partisan - and non-political) while I was in undergraduate school and the firms I did work for would not remotely tolerate any departure from good polling practices on any employee's part.

On a similar note, I often chuckle when I hear people say things like, "I know a lot of Democrats and I don't know ANYONE who supports candidate XYZ (more often than not, Hillary Clinton, who I witnessed recently draw 14,000 people to a rally in Oakland, so SOMEONE must actually support her and, in fact, the crowd was very enthusiastic). Isn't that kind of like walking into a McDonald's and asking "does anyone here like fast food?". I think you can even go to Gallup's website and learn polling methodology for yourself. It might do some of you good.

[PatSeg]

26. Thank you

That was very informative. I'll check out Gallup's site.

[ElizabethDC]

2. Well, in my case

To answer your questions:

I've never been polled.

I have a home phone but don't use it (we only have it because of the broadband package, although one of my roommates does use it), and we usually don't answer it because 90% of the calls are telemarketers.

I primarily use my cell phone, and if I don't recognize the number, I don't answer it.

I don't have a job where I call people, but in my recent experience with campaign volunteering, the phone is answered about a third of the time, though it depends on the time of day.

[PatSeg]

16. Your phone habits are almost identical to mine

I wonder whether we are the norm. Most of the people I know are pretty much the same way.

[Blue_In_AK]

3. I've been polled several times on state issues

but that's not too surprising since there are so few of us here, and I'm a super-voter. Nobody has ever called me for a presidential poll, however.

[Donnachaidh]

4. You can bet the polling places have it down to a science

They know exactly where to poll to *get* the numbers THEY are paid for. These *national* polls are a crock of shit. Of course, if the *numbers* favour your candidate, then of course they are *good*. :sarcasm:

[PatSeg]

7. Of course!

[MonkeyFunk]

8. Any evidence for that?

That polls are cooked to get the numbers the purchaser wants?

Why would they do that? Why do they all tend to agree with each other? Why, just prior to an election, are almost ALL polls correct within the margin of error?

[PatSeg]

15. Interesting question

Are the polls accurate or do they influence voters' choices? Do the majority of the voters prefer to vote for a "winner"? I don't really know, but I am curious as the polls often do not reflect the world I live in.

[HowHasItComeToThis]

9. INCLINED TO AGREE WITH YOU

ALL NONSENSE

[aquart]

13. Could you link us to your expertise in the industry?

Since you know so very much about it.

[seriousstan]

6. I am polled repeatedly. The last one was about a WIDE range of topics.

I am sure that polling companies ask questions for multiple clients in one call. My call covers O.J., a hand held video game title, the economy and the war.

[Mz Pip]

10. Yes, I've been polled

During the 2004 election I got polled a couple of times. And I always answered that I thought Bush really really really sucked or whatever equivelent there was for that.

But now it might be harder since I usually let my voice mail kick in before picking up and only about 4 people have my cell phoe number.

BUt I do think that with caller ID and voice mail becoming more common, less people answer their phones.


However, most of the polling reveals the same thing. So I sort of believe that they can't all be wrong. Well, we'll see. Hillary, Obama, Edwards, Biden. I don't care. I'll vote for any of them in the general election because THEY AREN'T FRIGGIN REPUKES!

Mz Pip
:dem:

[PatSeg]

17. Wouldn't love a pollster to ask:

"Do you think Bush sucks?"

[Mz Pip]

21. Unfortunately

it's worded much more tactfully. Do you think Bush is doing (push 1) and excellent job, (push 2) a good job, (push 3) a fair job, (push 4) a poor job). There is no (push 5) a really sucky job.

I push 4. It's as close as it gets to my true feelings. :-)

Mz Pip
:dem:

[PatSeg]

24. "Poor" doesn't suffice

He is even beyond "sucks" right now.

[PatSeg]

29. Well, I just did a Zogby poll

and sadly the lowest rating for Bush was alas "poor"!

[snowbear]

11. Freepers don't work. They sit around all day on their ample, pale derrier's..

....answering polls.


.
.


---------------A Freeper Chick---------------

[PatSeg]

19. They have a "calling"!

To spread their opinions far and near!

Scary pic.

[snowbear]

25. And notice how nice I was to them...

I got yelled at once by someone on here for calling a Freeper a fat ass.

Geez, it just slipped out after their "Freeps Ahoy" pictures had been posted on here.

Evidently, they go on a cruise every so often and ------OMFG------ if one of them fell overboard, it would take one of those massive crews that clean up oil spills just to try and skim the "ugly" out of the ocean!!

Anyway. This time I was nice and didn't call them fat asses.

[PatSeg]

27. You're all heart!

Of course, with that picture you didn't have to say a thing!

:rofl:

[rosesaylavee]

12. this may help

poll for Zogby - more info here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1991189

[gateley]

14. I was wondering the same thing today. I don't know if I've ever been called

because like others I don't answer my phone if I don't know who's calling.

What I don't understand is how quickly they vary in their 'results' from one another. At noon, Hillary has 80% in North Dakota, at 12:30, she's at 20% with Gravel at 80%. You get the point I'm trying to make.

I really don't think they're as reliable as they'd like us to believe. Please God.

[aquart]

18. Online polls have proven statistically consistent with phone polls.

So those who want to be polled can sign up at Harris and Zogby, for instance. Zogby is largely political, Harris is commercial and gives points which get you pleasant toys.

My main quarrel with Zogby is that "poor" is the worst you're allowed to say about Georgie's job performance. Doesn't cover it, IMO.

[PatSeg]

20. Yeah, they need a "sucks" choice

or a) sucks, b) sucks a little, c) sucks big time, or d) sucks big time, ALL the time.

[Coyote_Bandit]

23. Yes

I get polled. I do Zogby and Polling Point polls regularly. I've done Nielsen ratings and just last week I was polled by Rasmussen. Have also participated in a couple of university polls and a Pew Research poll.

[PatSeg]

28. Did you sign up for all those or were some of them random polls?

[Coyote_Bandit]

30. Almost all have been random

Zogby and Polling Point are the only polls I have ever signed up for. All the others have been random.

I have also been contacted to be part of local market research panels testing and evaluating the introduction of new products.

I was also been polled on various issues before and after the State of the Union speech a few years back. That poll was conducted by one of the major television networks.

Have also been polled on a number of local issues, on network and cable channel programming, and on various consumer matters. Also, a rather lengthy poll about health insurance.

The phone number is listed and if I am home I almost invariably answer it.

[PatSeg]

31. I've been polled by MSNBC but that was online

I had emailed them a few times about their programming and they asked me to participate in occasional polls.