Have you or anyone you know ever been polled?

[fencesitter]

By ABC News or any of these poles the news and pundits are so fond of quoting? I have'nt, nor anybody I know.

[texpatriot2004]

1. They never ask me or anyone I know nm

[katinmn]

2. Nope.

[liberal N proud]

3. LA Times called me once during the 04 election

[Journeyman]

4. The local, regional newspaper contacted me a few years ago. . .

(before Bush), but that was the first time and nothing since.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

5. Only online polls

I've done Zogby polls from time to time.

[FloridaPat]

6. I'm on the Zogby list. I signed up when someone here posted

the information on how to sign up.

[peace frog]

8. I respond to every Zogby poll

and have been on their list for about two years.

[dalloway]

11. me too. just go to their website to sign up

[Mojorabbit]

14. Me too

The latest one asked about impeachment.

[tjwmason]

7. Yes - once.

I don't know which polling organisation, but one of the British ones.

They started with the head-line political questions (if there were a general election tomorrow for which party would you vote?), then more topical questions, then some consumer ones ('do you have a credit-card, and if so would this offer make you switch' sort of things). Each time a new set of questions started the chap told me I could decline to answer any of them, and before starting asked if I was free to talk at that time.

Polling samples are acutally very small, only up to a couple of thousand people. But by weighting demographics &c. the pollsters believe that they can create a fairly accurate picture.

[fencesitter]

9. I've been polled locally,

but those numbers don't show up on MSNBC. Who gets polled for those? It's like television show ratings. Who decides those? If it were up to me Red Dwarf and Doctor Who would be in their 10th season on top. Survivor? what's that? Bush is up to 47%? where? Not in this town.

[Orangepeel]

10. yes. I've been called by Gallup. n/t

[MrBenchley]

12. Lots of times

It's no big whoop...

[tledford]

13. Yup, Gallup once, last year. n/t

[DesertRat]

15. Yes. Twice locally, once by Gallup

[tn-guy]

16. I actually was polled many years ago

I can't recall if it was the '96 or '00 election but I got a call from a person who identified himself as a working with one of the polls that is often in the news (not Gallup but I can't recall exactly which).

As he ran through the questions my reply was that I was definitely not undecided but I was refusing to respond. Later I checked the poll when it was published to see if there was a listing for which percentage refused to answer. There was no such total.

A few weeks later a local talk show had some people on who worked for polling firms. I called in and asked about my experience. One of the guests disclosed what I call the dirty secret of polls: the fact that they often have a refusal rate that equals or exceeds the participation rate. In other words if they have a sample of "1069 randomly selected adults" they probably had to ask over 2000 people to get that sample. I'm no expert but that kind of refusal rate causes me to seriously doubt any poll results. I asked why polls don't disclose the refusal rate when they release results and the person basically admitted that if they did no one would take them seriously.

[Eugene]

17. I've been polled a few times.

I forget the agencies, but I responded to a national poll back
in the 80's and another including George Dubya in the Fall of 2001.
My old phone got all the market survey people and pollsters
I could stand.

[0007]

18. NO

[ieoeja]

19. Yes n/t

[Humor_In_Cuneiform]

20. Not those polls, but I am regularly

asked to participate and often do in the Harris polls.

[Blue_In_AK]

21. I got polled by some ABC affiliate out of New York

a couple of weeks ago.

[radio4progressives]

22. Not by Gallup or any other of these that are frequently mentioned

only the democratic party.. and polling on local issues ..