POLL: Ever Been Polled?

I am a poll interviewer. My company works for many clients, both market researchers and political researchers. We do the grunt work of actually calling the people and asking the questions. (The organizations the polls are named for have no call centers of their own with trained interviewers)

I've done this for over 5 years. I had never been called by a political poll until two weeks ago, when someone called for a national Gallup poll. I wish I could remember the exact date so I could check the results.

Other than that, I've taken part in maybe 5 to 10 market research surveys, out of principle I always answer them.

I was called for a local political about my city's mayoral race a bit before Gallup called with the national.

Why is it so rare to be called for a national? Well, take a look at realclearpolitics.com. In the average day, even now during the political season of a presidential election year, there are at most maybe 4 or 5 national poll results released to the media. In addition to those, there are maybe another 5 national surveys or so whose results are kept private, held by party strategists or other interests. That's at most. A national poll typically has a sample of around 1000 people, to get the 95 percent confidence interval down to +/- 3 percent. So in any given day, even now, only about 10,000 people will be called for a poll about the presidential election. Ten thousand people randomly chosen out of 300 million. That's a one in 30,000 chance of being called and completing a survey.

It's actually slightly better than 1 in 30,000 because the vast majority of people who are called refuse to answer. At least half of Americans simply hang up because they think it's a telemarketer (yes, we call between 5 and 9pm, the dinner "hour"). Others don't speak English, or are too sick or old to answer, or quit halfway through. And of course it's got to be an adult, usually a registered voter, and often they must declare themselves likely to vote. So the chances are maybe more like 1 in 5,000.

Still that's like winning the lottery, and considering the influence polls have on national affairs, it's not something you should refuse if you get the chance. Even though it is more likely that a political will turn out to be about your local race for Congress or State Senate, it's worth it to answer on the small chance you'll be in one of the few big nationals for the day. Only hang up if they start push-polling you.

Your chances of being polled in a state poll are much higher if you live in a battleground state, like Florida, or Wisconsin.

Still that's like winning the lottery, and considering the influence polls have on national affairs, it's not something you should refuse if you get the chance. Even though it is more likely that a political will turn out to be about your local race for Congress or State Senate, it's worth it to answer on the small chance you'll be in one of the few big nationals for the day. Only hang up if they start push-polling you.

It's actually slightly better than 1 in 30,000 because the vast majority of people who are called refuse to answer. At least half of Americans simply hang up because they think it's a telemarketer (yes, we call between 5 and 9pm, the dinner "hour"). Others don't speak English, or are too sick or old to answer, or quit halfway through. And of course it's got to be an adult, usually a registered voter, and often they must declare themselves likely to vote. So the chances are maybe more like 1 in 5,000.

Nope never been polled. I don t think it s cool to polled a republican. None of my republican friends have ever been polled either. Maybe it s because republicans have jobs, often even a second job. Most democrates lay around stoned all day but will answer the phone quickly thinking it s their drug dealer.

Yes. My son and husband also got called for polls about issues important to them and who they were voting for and why, but it's only been since we moved to Nevada.

Fewer people here and it's a toss up state.

I'm a registered Dem, husband is Independent, and son is a new voter but registered as Dem.

Yes, they just asked if I was going to vote and for whom I was voting.

I told them Obama since I don't want 4 more years of the mess we're in now. McCain's 90% support of Bush's agenda doesn't cut it for me. We need more than a 10% change to get America out of this ditch!!

Every week. I am signed up with Zogby Polling and take part in polls sent via email.

I've done online polls, but nothing else. My mom has had an over-the-phone poll and was asked a BUNCH of questions.

Nope. I don't have a home phone, and I'm not a likely voter since I've always traveled too much to vote. Until now.

I was polled a couple of months ago, and several times 4 years ago. I have also been called by "telemarketers" whose calls I haven't answered; any of those could have been more pollsters.