Society · Facts & sources
4 sourced facts about the channels pollsters use to reach people — phone, online and in person, each with the context behind the number. 4 more are in today's round and appear here after it closes.
Answerabout 6%
Response rates fell from about 7% in 2017 to 6% in 2018, continuing a long decline in telephone survey participation.
Source: Pew Research Center (2018) pewresearch.org
Answerabout 60,000 households
The Census Bureau conducts this survey monthly, and its sample design was most recently redesigned in 2014.
Source: Wikipedia (Current Population Survey) (2014) en.wikipedia.org
Answer±4 percentage points
Gallup's routine national polls interview about 1,000 adults; a much larger sample would be needed to shrink the margin of error further.
Source: Gallup (2024) news.gallup.com
Answerabout 34%
The shift toward cellphone-only households forced pollsters to add cellphone numbers to their random-digit-dial samples.
Source: Wikipedia (Gallup, Inc.) (2012) en.wikipedia.org