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Will Cellular Phones Skew Survey Results?

Posted by timothy on from the don't-get-asked-don't-tell dept.

FriedEgg writes "Recently, many people have started to forgo traditional landline telephones in favor of cellular phones only. This presents a problem for telephone pollsters who are prohibited by the FCC from calling cell phones with automated equipment, and from calling people for whom receiving the call costs money. While they recognize the exclusion of cellular only users can skew their results, they're not yet sure how much... because they're unable to survey cellular only users to find out their demographic information. Some evidence does indicate the frequency of cellular-only is highest among 18-24 year olds, traditionally the hardest to survey anyway. If the problem grows worse, it's possible we could end up with a "Dewey Defeats Truman"-like situation where the telephone poll results were skewed because Truman supporters were less likely to own a telephone."

14 of 312 comments (clear)

  1. This post is the devil! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Reply here to sell your soul

    1. Re:This post is the devil! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

      I'm a Jew, so I'll haggle on the price a lot, but the catch is that we both know that the filthy Jews have no soul!

    2. Re:This post is the devil! by hdparm · · Score: -1, Offtopic
      Here. 1st 2004 post.

      To all geeks - Happy New Year from New Zealand!

  2. i m so stooooooooooned by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    man ya know waht dudeok yeah uh.......... uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh89 .. . . . . . . i cant post when im this high...k oh yeah. it would be cool if cats were superior to humans, as we are to them, so that they would own us and feed us marijuana while catnip was illegal in the cat's civilized society. hahaha we would get FREE WEED whenever we wanted........... HEH............ i just had an audio hallucination..... that was scary.

    1. Re:i m so stooooooooooned by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

      The moderators are stoned too!

      This post is clearly an ironic treatise exemplifying the difficulties of gathering accurate survey information from certain demographics. The poster presents an argument as a primary source, demonstrating how he or she is impervious to statistically sound surveying methods. Imagine what would happen if you were conducting a telephone poll and got this guy on the other end of the line! It is only through the careful analysis of evidence such as the parent post that we may come to understand the numerous obstacles pollsters face while trying to gather information.

      Therefore, the correct moderation of the parent post should be +1 insightful, to bring this valuable contribution to the topic to the attention of other readers.

    2. Re:i m so stooooooooooned by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

      So i wake up and go to my freind jons house. His parents were going to drive me, him,and my other freind to my other freinds house. He lives on a kinda farm that is prety far away, but it was the shiznit cus he has horses and goats and chickens and corn feilds. So anyway...... we finally get there around 11 am and go right upstairs like he told us to do (his parents were on vacation). Right when we go up to his room, we smelled weed right away and it was coming from his attic. to our suprise, two joints were just lit. The day before, 6 of us had put in $50 dollars to get an ounce of a nice ass type of dank. we called it black diamond because there was tons of little black crystals on it. So anyway......we smoke the two joints and go to his cornfeild where we made a little fort thing with a nice couch. there, we smoked bowl pack after bowlpack with two bowls. After that we went to this creek, and we each rolled our own joints, w/ as much weed as we could fit in it!!!!! After that we went to see his horses and goats and chickens. { off topic content deleted} My one freind was throwing chickens at the goats, lol. After that we went back to his house. in his attic we all smoked who nos how many more bowls. we went to his room to eat and play tecken, that video game where u fight eachother. I was in a weird trip sort of thing all of a sudden. My whole body got ice cold and i was spaced out. later, they told me they kept talking to me and i wasnt talking. They also told me i turned a weird green color lol. i dont think they were lying cus all six of them swear it. it was the shiznit tho. later, of course we smoked the rest of the ounce. I had to take the bus home later that night at like 11pm. Bein really high, i was waiting at the bus stop, and finally when the bus comes it rides right past me!!!! so i walk down this road for about 30 min and finally see a dairy queen. i had 2 dollars, just enough for a bus ride. Instead, bein realy high i decide to spend it on a hot fudge sunday, lol. So i was screwed....... i walked back to my friends house and it was about 12:30. they all start cracking up when i get there. The next day i calld my parents and apologized for not coming home. and i dint get grounded!!! i think my parents new it was 4 20, so they let it go. so, thats my 4 20 story. when i am old i will tell my grandkids of that day........

  3. pole me - i gonna vote 4 Busch! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    well i can tell them fancypantz washington lawyers that even though i don't own a phone or have indoor plumbing i's gonna vote for George Busch Jr cause he is a reel American!!!!!!!!!!11111Z!!11

  4. Also... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Another article about cellular phone usage and pollsters was posted here.

  5. Parent isn't offtopic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Why is the parent modded as off-topic?

    Oh YES, I forgot, unless you're walking in lockstep with the /. neocon majority, you're off-topic.

    MORONS.

  6. will corepirate nazi felon ?pr? ?firm? scriptdead by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    execrable, skew/FUDge survey results?

    you can bet your .asp again on that won. fortunately we have robbIE's 'stuff that matters' slowgun, & his gnu dating service to keep US abreast of reality/prevent softwar gangster hypenosys mindphuking?

    &, failing that, we have the:

    pateNTdead eyecon0meter used to .controll ?pr? ?firm? crap? (mynuts won, need a date buddIE?)
    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 30, @02:38PM (#7837849)
    that's right. this stuff is unbreakable, & wwworks on several (more than 3) dimensions.

    morons build vessel that floats on any suBStance? (mynuts won, no need to be suspicious?)
    by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 29, @02:53PM (#7829639)
    you can bet your .asp on that won?

    creators/humankind converge to repel unprecedented evile? (mynuts won, who run our 'banks'?)
    by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 29, @02:51PM (#7829610)

    & why not? what other options are there for us?

    eyecon0meter: survival most sought after feature? (mynuts won, get yOUR freedumb here?)
    by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 29, @02:48PM (#7829586)

    creators' badtoll over corepirate nazi execrable (mynuts won, many think hangin's way too good for the skalywags?)
    by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 29, @02:46PM (#7829567)
    disposal?

    newclear power dissed/cussed? (mynuts won, no animals killed buy MiStake in newclear power generation)
    by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 29, @02:41PM (#7829536)
    &, it's free as in free.

    newclear powered blips explore corepirate nazi (mynuts won, no lowrating robbIE's sponsors?)
    by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 29, @07:53AM (#7826913)
    cesspool?

    pheWWW.

    lookout bullow. the daze of the phonIE payper liesense ?pr? ?firm? hypenosys stock markup FraUD softwar gangster execrable, is WANing into coolapps/the abyss, at the increasing speed of right.

    consult with/trust in yOUR creators.... get ready to brighten up?

    mynuts won: solar(is) power included?

  7. felonious refudlicking partIE defeats humankind? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    that's the plan anyway. you thought they needed you for something?

    lookout bullow.

  8. does won-sighdead 'moderation' 'skew' robbIE's by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    readers' commeNTs?

    mynuts won, raising the bar for greed/fear/ego based corepirate nazi puppets.

  9. Re:OT: America is a continent, USofA is a country by operagost · · Score: 0, Offtopic
    I've met several Mexicans abroad who were really offended by the term "American" being used to describe U.S. Citizens
    Well, now you know several Americans who are offended by being called "USians"- me, and several Slashdotters above and below this thread. Choosing what to call a people is determined by that people, not some global committee. So stop calling us that, or I'll start picking out the names I like for other nationalities. How about "BadToothies" for the Brits, "Drunkies" for the Irish, and "Cowardies" or "WeLoveSaddamies" for the French.

    Frankly, you might as well ignore Mexicans when they bring up worthless items like this- they're still trying to take back the land they lost in the war.

    --

    Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
  10. Sorry Mensa members by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    My IQ is too high to allow me to be a Mensa member.