In Tokyo elections, Twitter reveals voter preferences in a way surveys do not

… In many elections, voters choose their candidate along party lines. But in the case of the Tokyo governor, issues are believed to be more important than the party. We want to understand which issues are important, and how these issues vary across Tokyo. The Japanese newspaper Mainichi Shinbun has […] Read more »

GfK Web-Based Polls: Why Do AP, Pew, CBS, and Other Media Trust Them? A Recent GfK Poll Raises Doubts

In November, iMediaEthics tested Pew’s October poll results on trans fat: Pew’s phone poll (conducted by PSRAI) found 44% in favor of trans fats being banned from restaurants, while iMediaEthics’ November GfK web-based poll found 64% in favor. iMediaEthics re-tested both polls in December to see if public opinion had […] Read more »

There’s an app for that: Mobile-based app surveys hold great potential for polling

As Americans increasingly turn to mobile phones as their primary platform of communication, survey researchers must adapt with new methodologies to reach audiences no longer connected to landline telephones. … At Public Opinion Strategies, we’ve been experimenting with mobile surveys. App-based mobile survey research is at the forefront of new […] Read more »

Americans Continue to Drop Their Landline Phones

More than two in five American adults live in households without a landline telephone, the most recent measure of society’s movement toward mobile phones—a phenomenon that continues to roil political professionals, particularly pollsters, who rely on phone interviews to determine the views of the broader population. Thirty-eight percent of adults […] Read more »