Facts · Facts & sources
5 sourced facts about surveys, polling, and public opinion research, each with the context behind the number. 4 more are in today's round and appear here after it closes.
Answerabout 2.3 million
Despite the huge sample, biased mail-in postcards led to one of polling history's most famous failures.
Source: Wikipedia - Opinion poll (2024) en.wikipedia.org
Answerabout 1,500 employees
Gallup has grown far beyond election polling into a global analytics and consulting firm.
Source: Wikipedia - Gallup, Inc. (2024) en.wikipedia.org
Answerabout 10,000 people
Cutting the margin of error to a third requires roughly ten times as many respondents.
Source: Wikipedia - Opinion poll (2024) en.wikipedia.org
Answerabout 60–70%
This counterintuitive finding suggests a much higher response rate doesn't always mean a more accurate survey.
Source: Wikipedia - Response rate (survey) (2024) en.wikipedia.org
Answer1938
Panel surveys ask the same group of people the same questions repeatedly over time to track how opinions change.
Source: Wikipedia - Sampling (statistics) (2024) en.wikipedia.org