# Poll: Have you ever been polled? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 22, 2008, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-have-you-ever-been-polled/468978 "2008-10-22T00:07:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-have-you-ever-been-polled/468978/1 "2008-10-22T00:07:21Z")
If so, what was the question and your answer? ---
**Author:** ![feppytweed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/feppytweed/32/4280_2.png) [@feppytweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/feppytweed)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-have-you-ever-been-polled/468978/2 "2008-10-22T00:21:49Z")
> [@Blalron](#): > > If so, what was the question and your answer? This. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-have-you-ever-been-polled/468978/3 "2008-10-22T00:31:20Z")
Do all of the elections in which I have voted count? ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-have-you-ever-been-polled/468978/4 "2008-10-22T00:35:01Z")
Yes multiple times, and I don’t know what the questions were. Polls are long. I know I’m an outlier on some of them. The last one was about having internet access in a mall for shopping. Two main points. Yes they need them. I look up product specks on the maker’s site. Within a year some malls I shopped at had the internet kiosks in them. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-have-you-ever-been-polled/468978/5 "2008-10-22T00:44:53Z")
I’ve never been called, but I have done online stuff for cash-equivalents. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-have-you-ever-been-polled/468978/6 "2008-10-22T00:48:27Z")
Yes, by Quinnipiac. Many answers to many questions, I was on the phone for 25 minutes. Any specifics? ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-have-you-ever-been-polled/468978/7 "2008-10-22T02:45:11Z")
Several times ,some longer than others. I quit answering the land line. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-have-you-ever-been-polled/468978/8 "2008-10-22T02:48:57Z")
Once, though I don’t remember who by. I was at my parents’ home and answered the phone, and since I was a registered voter, I answered their questions. It was in 2004, I think. It was short, and that’s all I remember. I fill out polls for the psych and soc majors on campus all the time, but I think that’s not what the OP is asking. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-have-you-ever-been-polled/468978/9 "2008-10-22T03:19:25Z")
Lots of polls. Not counting ongoing consumer polls, in the past month, I answered questions about a local political race (I notice they removed that ads I complained about after I mentioned that they were one reason I wasn’t planning on voting for the candidate). I also get polls on Jewish issues (support for Israel, etc.). I’m pretty much an outlier there. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-have-you-ever-been-polled/468978/10 "2008-10-22T03:31:42Z")
I’ve had the same listed phone number for my landline for 14 years. I swear I’m on every polling list ever compiled. Election seasons like now I get at least 4 calls a week, from the short 3 question “Are you registered, planning on voting, for whom?” calls to the longer 20 minute “issues” interviews. It’s always fun playing along with those trying to see how quickly I can figure out who’re they’re really working for, as the calls change from generic to specific. I get marketing research calls a couple times a month, too. Odd, you’d think I’d do better in our Daily Feuds since my opinion is so highly sought. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![bleach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bleach/32/3106_2.png) [@bleach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bleach)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-have-you-ever-been-polled/468978/11 "2008-10-22T03:34:08Z")
I’m a Gallup household. They called me out of the blue one evening about 2 years ago and the Gallup person was very courteous and professional. I answered all of his questions about whatever the topic was (can’t remember). At the end, it must have been a good experience for him, so he asked if I would consider participating in Gallup surveys from time to time. They give us one every six weeks or so. The number of surveys have only increased slightly recently despite the US election season. The surveys take about 5-10 minutes to do and most of Gallup’s are completed online now. In the last 6 months or so, they have been about the US presidential election, Congress, healthcare, the economy and how my life has changed because of it, gas prices, big box stores, recent shopping experiences, and dining out. I have to say that they do an amazing job at making their households feel good about participating in their polls. We don’t get paid but we do receive newsletters from Gallup which share the recent poll results; they always highlight interesting facts or counterintuitive findings. They seem to be very careful about being neutral and objective in the polls that I’ve taken (i.e., neutrally-phrased questions, balanced questions). I work a bit with survey design for my job and I respect how they craft their questions and surveys. The polls themselves are either [five-point Likert responses](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Likert_scale#Sample_question_presented_using_a_five-point_Likert_item) or multiple choice questions, which then branch for more specific information. Here is one example question from a previous poll (mid-Sept 2008 or so): How should the next US President prioritize the following issues? (not 100% sure about the phrasing of any of this, but this is the best as I can remember) I could choose exactly one of the following for each issue: High Priority Medium Priority Low Priority Issues were: Economic growth Ending the war in Iraq Dependence on foreign oil Campaign finance reform Repair infrastructure Education Immigration reform Healthcare reform Social Security reform plus other issues for a total of around 12-15 as I recall. It was possible to answer “High Priority” for all of them, a few of them, or none of them. A nice touch at the end of every survey is that they ask “from 1 to 5, how interesting was this poll to you?” and then they have a space for comments on how to improve the poll. After rereading my post here, it sounds like I’m an employee of Gallup, but I’m not. I just like participating in their polls because they make them interesting and not burdensome.