Author: rssmasher

While previous sections of this report have focused on the kinds of systematic biases that may be the largest worry when it comes to public opinion polls, the variance (or precision) of estimates is important as well. Pollsters most commonly talk about precision in terms of the “margin of error” (MOE), which describes how much […]

To understand the relative merits of alternative adjustment procedures, each was assessed on its effectiveness at reducing bias for 24 different benchmarks drawn from high-quality, “gold-standard” surveys. These benchmarks cover a range of topics including civic and political engagement (both difficult topics for surveys in general), technology use, personal finances, household composition and other personal […]

Historically, public opinion surveys have relied on the ability to adjust their datasets using a core set of demographics – sex, age, race and ethnicity, educational attainment, and geographic region – to correct any imbalances between the survey sample and the population. These are all variables that are correlated with a broad range of attitudes […]

A growing share of polling is conducted with online opt-in, or nonprobability, samples. This trend has raised some concern within the industry because, while low participation rates pose a challenge for all surveys, the online opt-in variety face additional hurdles.

About a quarter of adults who were raised Muslim no longer identify as members of the faith. But Islam gains about as many converts as it loses.

The Martin Agency of Richmond, Va., has promoted executive creative director Karen Costello to chief creative officer, a role left unfilled since her predecessor Joe Alexander departed last December amid an investigation into claims of sexual harassment. Costello joined Martin less than six months ago as executive creative director leading creative on the entire Mondel?z…

Millennials and younger “generation Z” ages 6 to 34 represent over half of the moviegoing audience, according to a new Video Advertising Bureau report.

McDonald’s USA has appointed two new leaders to its marketing team. Kenny Mitchell joins as the fast food conglomerate’s vice president of brand content and Lizette Williams comes aboard in the newly-created role, head of cultural engagement. Mitchell replaces the former vp of brand content, Joel Yashinsky, who retired in 2017, according to a spokesperson….

With the appointment of Dana Strong, Comcast now has a head of consumer services for all its residential products, who will be responsible for all its residential business for Comcast Cable.

Ah, Alexa. The voice assistant that, like Amazon, wants to be your everything. But “everything” isn’t really a position. With Apple’s Siri going (Rock!) hard on facilitating your sassy lifestyle, and Google plying people with donuts to get them used to making even the most banal voice-based demands, where does one put Alexa, the amenable…