Here is something on Medved’s show today. The hang up rate on polling calls is now 90% when it used to be 70% a few years ago. The pollsters are now concerned that this is creating a distortion because so few people want to be polled.
Think about this one. With the proliferation of personal cellphones, many people are disconnecting their landlines altogether. I haven't had a landline in my house for three years now. Everybody in my household has a personal cellphone.
Speaking for myself, I only answer incoming calls from numbers I recognize - usually somebody in my address book. If a strange number I don't recognize comes in, I let it go to voicemail but 90% of the time, that caller doesn't leave a message - probably some telemarketer...or pollster!
For the most part, people who disconnect their landlines are people on the go. If you sit around the house all day (i.e. out of work and on welfare), it is more likely you will keep your landline and be there for when the pollsters call.