Talk:Gallup poll

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[edit] Incorrect information?

"Gallup polls incorrectly predicted that Thomas Dewey, instead of Harry S. Truman, would win the 1948 Presidential election." - in the article about George Gallup.

"Gallup has been taking polls on US Presidential elections since it began. Every time, its results have predicted the correct winner." - in this article.

I have no sources on this. Does anyone know? Introgressive 20:54, 21 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Truman VS Dewey

We should note in the article that the reason for the incorrect predictions of the Gallup Poll in the 1948 election were as a result of poor polling practice - in this case the pollsters failed to continue polling voters until the end of the ballot, they stopped too early. I'll come back and add this in when I've had time to dig up a source. U R A GR8 M8 05:42, 5 June 2007 (UTC)

I was taught in school that the primary faulty polling practice was that it was conducted by telephone, and as a result it oversampled people who could afford telephones. Urban legend? I dunno. Tomer^talk 03:16, 6 May 2008 (UTC)