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Methodology
How Does the Gallup U.S. Poll Work?
Methodology

How Does the Gallup U.S. Poll Work?

What was the Gallup U.S. Poll?

The Gallup U.S. Poll, which began in 2008 as the Gallup Daily tracking survey, ran through 2017. It gauged Americans' opinions and perceptions of the most pressing political and economic issues and the current events that affected the world, the U.S. and their lives.

Gallup routinely incorporated additional questions into the Gallup U.S. Poll on a short-term basis. These extra questions covered topical issues, including views of events in the news.

How were interviews conducted for the Gallup U.S. Poll?

Gallup interviewed U.S. adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 states and the District of Columbia using a dual-frame design, which included both landline and cellphone numbers. Gallup sampled landline and cellphone numbers using random-digit-dial methods. Gallup chose landline respondents at random within each household based on which member had the next birthday. Gallup conducted interviews in Spanish for respondents who were primarily Spanish-speaking.

How many people were interviewed as part of the Gallup U.S. Poll?

The number of U.S. adults aged 18 and older interviewed for each poll varied throughout the life of the Gallup U.S. Poll:

  • From 2008-2012, Gallup interviewed approximately 1,000 U.S. adults per day.
  • From 2013-2016, Gallup interviewed approximately 500 U.S. adults per day.
  • In 2017, Gallup interviewed approximately 1,500 U.S. adults per week.

How often were the Gallup U.S. Poll interviews conducted?

Since the U.S. Poll began in 2008, Gallup conducted the survey every day, excluding major holidays and other events, for 350 days per year, through the end of 2017. Before 2017, there were daily quotas of completes.

Were the Gallup U.S. Poll samples weighted?

Yes, Gallup weighted samples to correct for unequal selection probability, nonresponse, and double coverage of landline and cellphone users in the two sampling frames. Gallup also weighted its final samples to match the U.S. population according to gender, age, race, Hispanic ethnicity, education, region, population density and phone status (cellphone only, landline only, both, and cellphone mostly). Demographic weighting targets for the U.S. as a whole and for individual states were based on the most recent Current Population Survey figures for the aged 18 and older U.S. population, while weighting targets for metropolitan areas and congressional districts were based on Nielsen Claritas statistics. Phone status targets were based on the most recent National Health Interview Survey. Population density targets were based on the most recent U.S. Census. All reported margins of sampling error included computed design effects for weighting.

Where can I find results from the Gallup U.S. Poll and learn more about the survey?

Gallup reported findings from the survey on News.Gallup.com. Gallup also reported U.S. Poll results in interactive features such as:

For questions about how this survey was conducted, please contact galluphelp@gallup.com.

To get the full trends for U.S. economic and political data collected through the Gallup U.S. Poll survey from 2008-2017, subscribe to Gallup Analytics.


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