WE ARE THE 91%: Only 9% of Americans Cooperate with Pollsters

PJ Tatler -- PJ Media ^ | September 30, 2012 | Zombie

[TChad]

One of the most amazing — and significant — statistics of this election season has gone almost completely unnoticed: Only 9% of sampled households gave an answer to pollsters in 2012:

It has become increasingly difficult to contact potential respondents and to persuade them to participate. The percentage of households in a sample that are successfully interviewed – the response rate – has fallen dramatically. At Pew Research, the response rate of a typical telephone survey was 36% in 1997 and is just 9% today.

[Roccus]

Where do people live where they get such good coverage?

Cities, suburbs and flatlands.

[thecodont]

Who still has a landline? Seriously - this is a big variable that is never talked about.

I have both a landline and a cell phone -- the landline is great for when the power goes out.

I also have an answering machine.

If someone I recognize leaves a message, they get a call back. Lately I've been getting a lot of calls that hang up (with a loud droning machine sound) once the answering machine answers.

Some might be trying to sell me a newspaper subscription (that's been true in the past) but I think given that it's election season, they're pollsters.

So among those registered voters with a landline, what is the party breakdown?

[Blood of Tyrants]

That is because there are fare too many sales pitches masquerading as polls.

[pops88]

I had a land line in 2005 that was paid for by my landlord. I’d already been years on solely a cell phone. I was barraged with telemarketers when I wasn’t on dial up internet. I recently dumped my “bundle” I’d had for a year because cable is crap and my phone was useless. I got nothing but calls from creditors, robo calls from the local school, and pollsters. It was unplugged for most of the year while I got decent cable pricing. I hung up on the pollsters because the questions were obviously weighted. I had to bypass the affirmative action hiree, go over their head and threaten legal action to finally get the school robo calls to stop. I finally just unplugged the phone. Although I pretty much hate Verizon in general, being married to a pilot, it’s had the best nation wide coverage and their customer service has always been wonderful. It’s also a pleasant surprise when I get a voice mail notice and discover someone called me a week ago.

[VanShuyten]

Really! We're on the do not call list, and in September, except for a few calls about the dogs from the vet, the tree guys about a couple of wind-split trees, and my car dealer and my dentist reminding me about scheduled service, all the calls (about 4-5 a day) have been hucksters violating the law and pollsters. The hucksters get a mouthful, and the pollsters get a hang-up.

I live in VA, and the AG, Cucchinelli, has been getting lots of emails from me about the sales calls, but they haven't stopped. If he can stop these, I'll vote for him for governor.

[Texas Songwriter]

I have tried to cooperate with pollsters. They all get the same answer...”Kiss my a..”.

[RetiredTexasVet]

If you have a cell phone, you will get calls from pollsters, telemarketers, politicians, etc. eventually. My wife has one and those calls went from none to just as many as on our land line. An answering machine does wonders for most of them as they generally just hang up when they get the answering machine response. We have advised all our friends and relatives not to caller id info block or if they do, leave a message. After a while you get used to the phone ringing and do not automatically run to answer it.

[Roccus]

They get nothing from me. Caller ID is a boon.

[huck von finn]

I don’t know if I’d go that far. People who rely on and pay for cell phones over a large period are working, period.

[asinclair]

it’s a quick, “Sorry, I can’t help you.”

I don't even bother with an apology. I just hang up.

[pops88]

“If you have a cell phone, you will get calls”

We’re on the “No Call” list. In 5 years, we’ve maybe gotten 3 calls where my husband has told them such and threatened to sue if they called again. I can rely on my phone ringing once a week when the gardeners show up so I know to confine my German Shepherd. Land lines, cable, newspapers= dinosaurs.

[huck von finn]

Is the cell related to your landline? I ask this because I’ve never had calls from telemarketers or political people on my cell.

[libertarian27]

This is an extremely important article

Here’s the Pew Research Article too:
http://www.people-press.org/2012/05/15/assessing-the-representativeness-of-public-opinion-surveys/

This needs to get out to the ‘masses’ - both Conservatives and to shut down the giddy Liberals.

[ASouthernGrl]

You’re answer is identical to mine. I

[TChad]

Here’s the Pew Research Article too:

Thanks for the link. I read it a couple of months ago when it was linked on a blog, but apparently the article was never posted to FR. It definitely should have been posted here.

Required reading for anyone who relies on polls.

[ASouthernGrl]

Well chit, obviously I can’t type tonight! YOUR answer is identical to what mine would have been. Don’t know where the “I” came from! lol Now that I’ve screwed up the above comment, I’ll say that we have a land line & pre-paid cell phones. We’re currently considering cancelling the landline though due to cost. Hate having to tell everybody we know that we have new # but it’s probably worth it. I’m so sick of “unknown number” calls and crappy polls or political candidates. This may be the push we need to dump the landline.