Title: Response from Pew Research Center to “In Polls We Trust” | Alan Cooperman | First Things
Headings: Response from Pew Research Center to “In Polls We Trust”
Response from Pew Research Center to “In Polls We Trust”
Articles by Alan Cooperman

Content: This is indeed a serious issue; the response rate in a typical Pew Research Center poll fell from 36 percent in 1997 to 9 percent today. Consumers of public opinion polls should always consider methodology and response rates when interpreting survey findings. To the extent that his essay inspires consumers of poll results to pay attention to the details of data collection, Wuthnow offers important advice. But readers should not conclude that declining response rates make polls meaningless. An extensive body of academic research has examined the impact of non-response in surveys, and the basic conclusion is this: Non-response can produce biases but does not always do so, and it can affect some measures in a survey but not others. This research ultimately shows that response rate is not a reliable indicator of survey quality. The not-for-profit Pew Research Center has conducted three major studies of the impact of declining response rates. The most recent study, from 2012, demonstrates that telephone surveys that include landlines and cell phones and are weighted to match the demographic composition of the population continue to provide accurate data on most political, social and economic measures.