Any Dopers here ever actually been polled for real by a presidential-election survey (ie., Trump vs. Hillary or some other D) by a big-league pollster such as 538, Rasmussen, Gallup, Pew Research, etc.?
What was it like and how did it go?
It’s been years since I said yes to a phone survey, got a lot of requests last federal election. When I did, it was which way I planned to vote and how important different issues were.
And 538 isn’t a pollster.
I got a robocall poll once but I don’t remember if they said who was doing the poll.
Ok, for some reason I thought they ran their own polls.
538 does partner with Ipsos to conduct polls before and after the debates. I’m not sure if the surveyed know it’s for 538 though.
https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/news-polls/538-fifth-democratic-debate-2019
I have had maybe two phone calls that were polls. I think both were on local issues, and I recall that they seemed like legitimate organizations doing the polls.
They took maybe five minutes and was pretty unremarkable. They asked maybe a dozen questions.
That matches my experience, probably 2 calls in the last 10 years, all on Maryland politics. I generally answer polls if I have time, first as an act of solidarity with my fellow statisticians (more data is always better), and second because it seems to be among the most efficient ways to get my opinions to make a difference.
Right but I rather assume the partnership is 538 pays Ipsos money for a poll. I know it’s commonly called that but is it any more legitimate than saying I partnered with a sandwich artist for lunch yesterday?
I’ve been contacted by numerous polling firms (don’t recall names) – I presume that because I often take the time to answer, they note down that I’m a good respondent and are more likely to call me again.
I haven’t had a landline in a long time (15 years now?) and I rarely answer my cell, preferring text messaging. So, no.
Pretty often – I’d say probably three or four times per election cycle. The trick is to actually answer your phone (which I nearly always do, both because I do, in fact, want to talk to pollsters, and because I can’t stand ringing phones in general and would much rather pick up even if it’s a junk call).
Nope. Never. Not having a landline probably helps.
I used to live in Columbus Ohio, got polled several times, especially 2004. Both on the presidential race and the smoking ban.
I should add that the calls I’ve received were on my cell phone.
When I hang up on requests for polls I wonder how many people feel the way I do and if it throws off the numbers. They ask too much personal information that I am not willing to give over the phone. If I knew 100% that the random person on the other end was really from one of the major polling companies I would be happy to participate. A random unsolicited call? Click.
To answer the OP I’ve received several requests by phone but I’m not certain from where and I never participated.
I got one years ago when I still answered the phone. As soon as I got to the abortion question (3 or 4 in), and said I was in favor of abortion rights, the “pollster” tried to get me to change my answer. Then they hung up when I wouldn’t play.
Every once in a while I see a caller identified as some kind of survey, but I haven’t yet given in to the urge to pick it up.
I got a questionnaire from the Gallup Poll shortly after I graduated from college. Even though it was a multi-page booklet, I went ahead and filled it out and sent it in anyway because I felt honored to have been chosen by them, and it also proved that it really existed.
It was about the USPS.
I vaguely recall a pollster call on the landline when I lived near a major military base in 1978. Nothing since then.
This kind of thread question is sort of self-selecting, isn’t it? Most respondents say YES. The NOs mostly don’t show.
I was polled by Gallup, I believe it was, back when I lived in New Hampshire as a Dukakis campaign national field staffer not long before the Democratic primary there in early 1988. They didn’t ask if I was *working *for any candidate, and I didn’t tell them. The interview took about 20 minutes and included lots of questions about the various candidates then in the field, how I would rate them according to various criteria, what my views were on various policy issues, my views of President Reagan, etc. I tried to be as objective as I could, but did say some nice things about Mike Dukakis.
I got polled by a labor union advocacy group, but it can’t have been a very good one because the pollster got drawn into an argument with me. of course, it is me, so maybe I’m just talented that way.