14 min

Why cellphones — and trust — may be affecting polling data Marketplace Tech

    • Technology

There was a time when pollsters went door to door to figure out what people were thinking. Gallup did that for almost 50 years, before switching mostly to telephones by the mid-’80s. Phone polling was cheaper but still reliable. That is, until the cellphone came along. Marketplace’s Lily Jamali asked Jon Clifton, CEO of Gallup, about the complexities of reaching people to get their views. His company stopped doing presidential horse-race polling in 2012, but still asks Americans for their views on the sitting president and topics ranging from immigration to inflation.

Our May fundraiser ends Friday, and we need your help to reach our goal. Give today and help fund public service journalism for all!

There was a time when pollsters went door to door to figure out what people were thinking. Gallup did that for almost 50 years, before switching mostly to telephones by the mid-’80s. Phone polling was cheaper but still reliable. That is, until the cellphone came along. Marketplace’s Lily Jamali asked Jon Clifton, CEO of Gallup, about the complexities of reaching people to get their views. His company stopped doing presidential horse-race polling in 2012, but still asks Americans for their views on the sitting president and topics ranging from immigration to inflation.

Our May fundraiser ends Friday, and we need your help to reach our goal. Give today and help fund public service journalism for all!

14 min

Top Podcasts In Technology

Acquired
Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal
Search Engine
PJ Vogt, Audacy, Jigsaw
All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg
All-In Podcast, LLC
Lex Fridman Podcast
Lex Fridman
Underserved
Andrew Gelina
Hard Fork
The New York Times

More by American Public Media