The Disheartening Job They Call "Polling" and Its Future

by Alex

Our poll is underway and the title says it all. No, it is not that bad. However, it is very disheartening when you call 18 numbers and you do not talk to one Hominidae. In other words, I did not talk to one human, chimpanzee, or gorilla. Ok, I guess the latter two species cannot even talk because they are unable to control their vocal cords. So that leaves me with homo sapiens, or rather, us. Still, would not you think I would at least talk to somebody in that time?

What could it be? Or even better, why am I not getting many "hits"? The development of new technologies (e.g. caller ID) probably has something to do with it. Are people just lazy? Most definitely some of the populace are lazy. Does telephone polling success rest on the sex of the poller versus the sexual preference of the respondent? O yeah, I am currently batting about .900 when the person on the other line is a female.

So of course all of these things (and more) come into play to some extent. I just wonder where public opinion polls will go from here. I know Pew, Gallup, and Rasmussen response rates are trending downwards. We are having limited success ourselves. How are polls going to combat this changing environment? Yeah, internet polls are more prevalent and cellphones are being targeted. However, research shows it is best to talk directly to the source vis-a-vis via telephone.

P.s. Please just pick up your phones and spend 5 minutes talking with us!