Regarding polls. I wonder how many people do not answer their phone if they see a number they

[still_one]

Last edited Tue Oct 20, 2020, 11:48 AM - Edit history (1)

don’t recognize

I know that I do not take calls from numbers I do not recognize, and wonder if there are others that do the same, and if that number is significant?


https://www.pewresearch.org/methods/u-s-survey-research/frequently-asked-questions/

[NRaleighLiberal]

1. I've not answered unknown numbers in at least 10 years.

[Jersey Devil]

2. Some polls do not call, but text instead

I was invited to poll by PPP last week and it was sent to me by text. Same with a previous poll in September.

[lagomorph777]

31. I don't have a text plan and don't answer texts, even from friends.

[PTWB]

62. Why?

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

70. Without a text plan texts don't arrive at the phone.

At least that's how it was with my first several cell phones.

Worse yet, the sent texts don't bounce back, so the sender has no idea it was never received.

[PTWB]

71. Texting is so much more convenient for most routine communications

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

80. True. But not everyone texts.

[PTWB]

91. Not everyone drives but it's still a lot more convenient than walking.

[lagomorph777]

98. Not true at all. Much slower than just talking.

[PTWB]

102. If you're trying to have a long, in depth conversation with someone...

It should be in person if possible, over FaceTime or video chat if not. If you’re at the grocery store and your wife needs to add a few things to the shopping list it is infinitely more convenient to receive a text or three as she remembers them than to manage a phone call each time.

This isn’t the 20th century - communication has evolved and improved.

[lagomorph777]

106. If she's sending a list, email is fine.

I grew up alongside the fledgling computer industry, have been a tech creator in that industry my whole life. I use tech when it makes sense; I don't use it when it's just superfluous.

[PTWB]

108. You'd rather have a new email each time she remembers something to add?

Positively archaic!

[lagomorph777]

109. It's different than a text?

They're pretty much the same thing. On my phone, texts are all squashed up and scrolling; much more convenient to read emails.

[PTWB]

110. On modern phones text messages are much easier to parse

It isn’t like the old phones where each individual text message must be opened like emails.

[lagomorph777]

115. I have a modern phone. Texts all appear one one page, but all mashed together; hard to read.

Anyway, that's the nice thing about tech. We each use it as we like to use it.

I'll never understand texting; you're not a phone call person. OK.

[PTWB]

120. Do you not see a problem with that?

“I’ll never understand insert-ubiquitous-technology-here.”

[lagomorph777]

121. OK I understand how it works, down at the technical level.

I just don't see the point. I see people stop their cars, or suddenly stop walking in front of me, and they look like zombies, spending their time punching their phone screens and staring down. And I don't think they are mostly doing anything useful.

Meanwhile, I get a quick call, transact whatever business is needed, and move on, generally without halting in my tracks.

Texting was invented in 1844, telephone in 1876, so I consider voice to be the more advanced technology.

[PTWB]

122. You think there is really a difference?

Between reading an email and reading a text? A driver shouldn’t be reading a text, an email or answering calls while driving.

[lagomorph777]

123. No, I won't do any of those things.

But texters do. I can't tell you how many times I've had to drive around a zombied-out texter who has decided to park on a traffic lane and pop out a few dozen texts.

To me, the difference between email and text is the user interface (awkward for texts) and the cost (ripoff for texts). But in personal life, voice is way faster for communication that doesn't need some written record.

And the idea of translating voice->text->voice and then reversing it for a response, just seems like a hilarious parody.

[PTWB]

125. Texting is infinitely faster than email once you get the hang of it.

Also on modern phones with modern plans there is no additional cost - everyone I deal with on a regular basis has a standard unlimited plan.

The folks at stoplights reading their phone might be texting. They could also be emailing. Or checking their Instagram. Or Snapchat. Or Facebook DM. Or ordering food for pickup (or delivery). They could be replying to you on DU. They may be making a purchase on Amazon or modifying their Walmart grocery delivery order. Perhaps they’re dialing their great-great grandparent who can’t figure out how to answer their text messages!

[lagomorph777]

126. OK I think we're missing the point here. Text is not faster than voice.

For those rare occasions where a text document is needed, email is fine.

I do not enjoy text conversations; they are just too slow, and eliminate the nonverbal information carried by speech.

Therefore, I'm concluding my side of this one. Thanks for your interest.

Sincerely,
Grandpa

(PS - it's not a techphobia thing. I make my living designing innovations in extreme-edge tech stuff. That's fun. Typing when I could just be talking is not fun.)

[PTWB]

127. Text can be much faster than phone calls.

If I’m at the grocery store shopping and my wife texts me “carrots” I can infer that she wants me to pick up carrots. That is so much faster than her dialing, waiting, ringing, me retrieving the phone, answering, greeting, listening, and then writing it down because I’m going to inevitably forget.

Repeat three more times for three more things she wants to add to the lost.

Instead, I have a wonderfully convenient and efficiently formatted text conversation:

Carrots
Coffee beans
Bread

Try it! Also, have a good evening.

[lagomorph777]

128. We do have one thing in common.

Our wives think alike.

[lagomorph777]

97. Nope - they pass it along anyway and charge me 50 cents.

I don't like text - wayyyy too slow and inefficient.

[Codeine]

88. Why would you not text?

It’s infinitely more efficient. I can’t stand using the phone for voice calls anymore.

[lagomorph777]

99. Because it's infinitely more inefficient.

I'm not interested in conserving network bandwidth (and paying extra for the privilege). I am interested in communicating rapidly. Speech is inherently faster than typing (and I am a pretty good typist on a real keyboard).

[tavernier]

101. You don't have to type.

You can just talk into your microphone like I am doing now.

[lagomorph777]

105. Hahahaaa! And then go back and correct all the stupid errors?

If I'm going to talk and have it get all twisted up, why not just talk to the party I'm talking to? That whole concept is over-the-top stupid. I'm not that shy that I can't just talk directly to the other person.

[CatMor]

3. I am one who does not answer the phone when ..

I see a number I don't recognize. Most times the caller does not leave a message.

[Claustrum]

4. I am the same. I haven't been polled yet because I don't pick up the phone

if I don't recognize the number. If someone is looking for me for valid reasons, they will leave a message.

[DonaldsRump]

5. I don't take calls from numbers I don't recognize

Interestingly, I received a call the other day that said "Survey Call". I absolutely refuse to take those calls, as I don't know who is really behind them.

[ResistantAmerican17]

6. I rarely do but one time I answered. They asked me to take a poll and I agreed.

The first question was “do you support the socialist takeover of healthcare”. I said “fuck you, I see exactly where this is going” and hung up on them. Of course I voted for Biden.

[Rorey]

13. Good for you!

No sense in wasting time on that garbage.

[central scrutinizer]

35. It's more fun to waste their time

I got a push poll call a while back. One of the questions was to rate the mayor (non-partisan office, but he was a well known Republican). I was given five choices: strongly disapprove, disapprove, neutral, approve, strongly approve. My response: “he’s a fucking crook!” Sticking to the script, the pollster repeated the choices. “What part of fucking crook do you not understand?” He repeated the choices, waiting for an answer he could code. That went on for more questions. Finally got tired and hung up

[skypilot]

112. Wait a minute.

He couldn't figure out that your response equated to "strongly disapprove"?

[safeinOhio]

81. I'm more polite.

I tell them I’m a Marxist and if they have a few moments I’d love to tell them why.

[progree]

85. I tell them I'm a middle-of-the-roader

midway between the Mensheviks and the Bolsheviks

[safeinOhio]

93. Good one.

Thanks.

[ResistantAmerican17]

95. I'm always polite when it comes to responding to the volunteers who send the texts,

But I give no quarter to the folks who are in on the grift.

[safeinOhio]

96. I might be a tad

passive aggressive, but always polite.

[pwb]

7. I Remember when we didn't know who was calling and

just picked up the phone? Anyway I don't answer unknown calls either.

[leftyladyfrommo]

36. I remember when we ran for the phone. It was always

family or friends. Or that photography company that did family portraits.

[moonscape]

116. I remember a couple of times in my life when I

was avoiding someone so much that I told my closest friends how to reach me: let it ring once, hang up, and call back. Then I would answer.

Answering machines were such a miracle!

[Bettie]

8. No one I know under the age of 70

answers the phone if they don't know who it is.

[still_one]

11. I wonder if unanswered calls are factored in the polling?

[Dream Girl]

87. Of course they do. It's built into the methodology

They factor all that in.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

9. Me neither.

If the number isn't recognized, no answer.

[calimary]

79. Same here. I don't pick up if I don't recognize the number.

My phone often notifies about an unfamiliar number - possible spam.”

[Frustratedlady]

10. Neither do I. In fact, with the insistent ones, I finally block them.

It is not always easy for me to get to the phone in time and I allow myself to be angered when I see it is a private caller or from a city or area that doesn't need to call me for any reason. I have never been polled.

Same with emails. I have found that the more you donate, the more emails you get...like 25/day from one candidate. As soon as I delete them, another pops up.

[still_one]

15. Even if it is a legit polling enterprise, there is so much spam happening, I would think a good

number of people won’t answer a call from an unknown number

[luvtheGWN]

74. One of our former Prime Ministers

always said "Polls (or poles) are for dogs when you're taking them out for a walk". Of course, he said that when the "polls" were showing that he was losing badly!

[still_one]

76. good one

[FBaggins]

12. There's no question that the pollster's job has gotten harder

The real question is whether those who do answer the phone are a reasonable sample of those who don't... or whether those who refuse to talk to the pollsters are more/less red/blue than those who do.

Different takes on that narrative appear to be the only hope republicans have for this cycle.

[still_one]

18. Wow, a picture says it all. Thanks

[frazzled]

33. And this is why I no longer do phone banking

I’ve seen this attrition in pick-ups over the years when doing phone banking for campaigns. The last time we did it was 2012 at the Obama headquarters. Spouse and I got exactly 1% pick-up rates on each of our lists of 100 names. Sorry, that’s just not worth the investment of time and energy.

[Codeine]

89. I've done text banking.

Way more successful.

[hlthe2b]

14. Since Trump allowed the "No-Call list" to become essenially meaningless/toothless I don't

Before, I would have answered pollsters, since they were not affected by the NCL. Now, I'm overwhelmed by spammers/scammers so I don't answer. If they don't leave a message I generally assume they were the latter.

I do often complete surveys from those reputable groups that contact me via email (e.g., youGov)

[moonscape]

118. The do-not-call list became pretty worthless before Trump. n/t

[Mike 03]

16. I also never answer numbers I don't recognize or numbers

without a proper caller ID. And for the last month I've been getting an anomalously high number of unrecognizable phone calls that only show the location where the call originates, or "unknown caller" with no further information.

[MineralMan]

17. My phone sends all calls from numbers not in my contacts

directly to voice mail. The phone doesn't even ring. If I have voice mail, I listen to it. 95% of those calls leave no voice mail.

[still_one]

19. Yup

[dhol82]

49. I have that with Verizon here in NY

Took me a while to figure out why I was getting voice mails without ever hearing the phone ring.
Becomes a problem with new contacts that I haven’t entered into my data base yet.

[MineralMan]

58. Well, legitimate callers will leave voice mail.

I check for new voice mails every time I look at my phone, so I'd return any calls pretty quickly.

However, most of the callers leave no voice mail, so I assume they're telemarketers or some other such nuisance callers. If a call is legit, I add the number to my contacts.

[dhol82]

60. I do the same. Many do still leave marketing voice mails - they get blocked and trashed.

[ecstatic]

20. I've stopped answering. The number of spam and election related calls

and texts I've been receiving is just way too much.

I figure if it's important, they'll leave a message.

Just received a text from stop45plan.org while typing this. LOVE the enthusiasm but it's a lot. Lol

[smirkymonkey]

21. I don't.

[ananda]

22. Same here.

I never get polled.

[Cirque du So-What]

23. It seems pollsters are gathering data

from people who don’t screen their incoming calls.

[lagomorph777]

32. Yeah, and probably don't screen incoming propaganda either.

...they would tend to lean very red...

[Statistical]

24. It makes the job of pollsters harder but polls aren't just randomly calling people.

Ever notice why a poll has demographic breakdowns like 96% of Democrats are voting for Biden. Pollsters have models of the demographic makeup of the electorate (x% black, %y Democratic, %z self described "moderate", %a 18-25, etc). They don't just call random people and report what they said. They use that raw data to fill in their model of what the electorate looks like.

So it isn't like if mostly (70%) Republicans answer the phone they publish a poll showing Trump is leading by 20 points they go well that is what the people said. The Republican split is weighted down to the percentage of the electorate their model shows that Republican voters make up.

So you not answering the phone has zero impact UNLESS there is a difference between people in your demographic who answer the phone and people who don't. For example if Democrats who answer the phone support Joe Biden less than Democrats who don't answer the phone that would introduce bias that would be hard to model out. That is a genuine question and one that bothers pollsters because as the phone answer rates drop the there is the potential for those errors to increase.

[still_one]

30. Good explanation. My suspicion is a lot of younger voters are not fully accounted for,

because with that demographic the past doesn’t necessarily reflect the current or future pattern

[ProfessorGAC]

117. Good Post! (nt)

[tblue37]

25. Same here.

[Darwin2019]

26. I have been answering all calls lately and here is the breakdown

Most are robo scam calls saying may Apple device is hacked...don't have an Apple
or my "plastic card will be charged 299 dollars if I don't talk to someone
or the Police asking for money...I tell them I am giving all my money to Joe Biden
...not one pollster has called.

[still_one]

27. add that to the reason why more people won't answer numbers they don't recognize

[Arkansas Granny]

28. I don't answer calls if I don't recognize the number. If it's important, leave a voicemail.

[NurseJackie]

29. My home phone AND my cell phone ONLY ring if the caller's number is KNOWN and in my CONTACT LIST!!!

All others go to voice mail.

[still_one]

34. Same here

[TwistedTinkerbelle]

37. Same here

I can't remember when I last answered an unknown number call or text.

[Baitball Blogger]

38. Always, never.

[Liberal In Texas]

39. Nope. Don't answer numbers I don't recognize.

Probably some of them may have been polling calls, but I'll never know.

I also think phone banking is a waste of time for this reason.

[Escurumbele]

40. I don't answer a number I cannot recognize, and if they don't leave a msg I block them

If they leave a message and it is a robocall, I also block them.

[man4allcats]

41. I also do not accept such calls. n/t

[ashredux]

42. I don't...never

...

[MerryBlooms]

43. Same, until recently. I'm in a burn area in Oregon and so I've been answering

calls from a lot of numbers I don't recognize. When I have everything done, I will go back to ignoring unknowns.

[CaptainTruth]

44. I'm getting about 7-9 calls a day from numbers I don't recognize. I never answer.

[bucolic_frolic]

45. I just don't take calls

I use a cell. The landline is an advertising tool that I must have with ISP.

[barbtries]

46. i stopped taking calls from numbers I don't recognize

nearly got scammed last month.

[JTOL]

47. I DO NOT ANSWER

[matt819]

48. I've wondered that for years

And even more now.

I hardly ever answer my cell phone if it's a number I don't recognize or if it's from an area I don't general do business in. So, Maryland yes, Wyoming no. You get the idea. Now with iOS 14, there is even greater call blocking, including a service from Verizon. On top of that, I've noticed in recent weeks that numbers are being shows as from United States as opposed to a location based on the area code. I know a lot of area codes, but not all, so I'm disinclined to answer. I figure if it's business, they'll leave a message or call back. The problem there is that autodialers also seem to be set at call back. And of course, legitimate calls might come from area codes I don't do business in because people have moved and kept their old numbers.

Further, caller id lookup services are woefully inadequate. Many (most?) are bogus, and the decent ones come at a price.

And then there's the landline issue. I saw an article yesterday on that subject, though I couldn't quite follow it. I have one remaining landline number, though it's on a voip service that forwards to my cell, so in that case I really don't know if the calls are coming direct to me on my cell or via my very old landline number.

Kind of makes you wonder about the validity of any polling services given the complexities of phone numbers, services and locations.

[Olafjoy]

50. May I say after phone banking one day?

NO ONE ANSWERS!! Will be doing door to door, masked and socially distanced.

[still_one]

53. That is very insightful. Appreciate your canvassing

[Miigwech]

51. I never answer any calls wthout knowing who is calling us

.... car warranty, police benevolent society, free vacation ... I always answer the calls from the Democrats who check up to get out the vote. Have had some wonderful conversations and could make many friends with such wonderful folks! The best people in the world!!!

[brooklynite]

52. Pollsters take non-response into account in developing their voter distribution counts

[still_one]

55. non-response and a phone not being answered are not necessarily the same thing

[brooklynite]

57. Yes they are as far as polling goes

Pollsters don't make phone calls and take the first 500 responses they complete; they have targets (R/D, male/female, White/Black/Hispanic, etc.) and collect data until they meet the threshold.

[still_one]

64. ................................

https://www.pewresearch.org/methods/u-s-survey-research/frequently-asked-questions/

"Don’t you have trouble getting people to answer your polls?
Yes. The percentage of people we interview – out of all we try to interview – has been declining over the past decade or more. There are many reasons for this. Some stems from the fact that people are busier and harder to reach at home. Some has to do with the use of technologies such as caller identification, voice mail and privacy managers. And some is a result of a growing unwillingness on the part of some people to be interviewed. We have done a great deal of research on whether declining response rates harm the accuracy of polls. Fortunately there is, as yet, little evidence that nonresponse is creating a serious issue with the validity of polls.

https://www.pewresearch.org/methods/u-s-survey-research/collecting-survey-data/#the-problem-of-declining-response-rates

[riverwalker]

54. I do. Landline without caller ID.

There have been important calls from unknown numbers. I was polled almost daily until a week ago, it stopped.

[Polybius]

83. No caller ID?

Don't you think it's time to step into 1990?

[ancianita]

56. Same. Four calls a day from various states. 10 or more texts from campaigns.

I've donated already and voted, and I can't deal with being nagged or stalked, so I delete.

[AlexSFCA]

59. I never do

and if I did, I would never supply any information to unverified callers in this day and age. Besides, iphone marks calls as likely political call or spam so they never get answered. Polls have less and less value and we should never rely on them. I know that no matter how horrified I would be, I won’t be surprised if trump “wins”. I don’t take any polls too seriously. Turnout is a good indication but overall turnout, not just early or mail only. I read ludicrous stuff in the news saying that record early voting or record early absentee ballot. Of course it is, because of pandemic. The entire news business is now based on sensationalism where banalities are being spun as breaking news.

[Sherman A1]

61. I don't answer the phone if I don't know the number

If it is important they will leave a message.

[seta1950]

63. Exactly

I never answer a phone call from a number I don’t know

[liberalla]

65. I don't!

[ffr]

66. Only been polled once in the past decade and that was my mistake for picking up.

And that wasn't a presidential poll even. Have not been polled since. And that must have been a least 8 years ago.

[Blaukraut]

67. Same. If it's important, they can leave a voice mail n/t

[PTWB]

68. Everyone I know who responds to polls gives them bad info.

It is perplexing. Just this week two friends who are Biden supporters mentioned being polled and both claimed to support Trump because they don’t want other Biden supporters to get complacent. A Trump supporting former co-worker I know told the pollster he was voting for Biden. His reason was that “the polls are all fake” and he hoped a Trump victory would appear even more “epic” if he has to come from behind by a large margin.

I don’t know how the A+ rated pollsters factor this kind of manipulation into their algorithms but I’m sure they account for it.

[Evolve Dammit]

69. Never unless expecting a call. "Unavailable"? "Private"? Well so am I. Had one come in from RNC. Ha

[LiberalFighter]

72. I received one last nite that showed up on Caller ID as Potential Spam.

I answered it and it was a poll. Didn't really think much of the way it was conducted with limited responses.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

73. My landline does not consistently capture phone numbers, and I have no idea why not.

So probably a good half of the time when the number isn't shown, it will be someone I know and want to talk to.

So yeah, I frequently answer calls where the number isn't shown.

I am happy to hang up on someone I don't want to talk to.

[keithbvadu2]

75. From statistics class. A phone survey in the twenties or thirties predicted that a certain preside

From statistics class.

A phone survey in the twenties or thirties predicted that a certain presidential candidate would win. He lost. It turns out that the survey was not representative of the entire population. Only the relatively well-to-do could afford to have a phone.

[still_one]

78. Good point, and there are even more variables today

[Silent3]

77. What's more important is if there's a systematic bias behind answering/not answering

If Biden voters and Trump voters are equally unlikely to answer the phone, and equally likely or unlikely to respond truthfully if they do answer, then it really doesn't matter how many people answer. Just keep calling and calling until you hit a reasonable sample size of people who answer, and you'll still be getting pretty good data.

It only gets tricky if, say, Biden voters hate answering phone calls from strangers more than Trump voters do. Or if Trump voters like fucking with pollsters more than Biden voters do (which is easy to imagine in one way, if you think about a general propensity for lying, but tougher to imagine if you think of a Trump supporter trying to choke out the words, "I'm for Biden!" ).

There might be some systemic bias, such as Trump voters being older, more of them being home more of the time, and therefore more likely to answer the phone. If you are aware of such a bias, however, you can try, with varying degrees of success, to factor that into your model.

[PatrickforO]

82. I generally don't, unless I'm in the mood...n/t

[Nitram]

84. I don't answer the phone if there's just a number I don't know, but legitimate pollsters

are identified by name in Caller ID

[asiliveandbreathe]

86. My block list is longer than my contact list..

Hubby does answer every call, might be a painting job (LOL)..

The last canvas call, he told the person he did vote, and voted for every DEM on the ticket..they must have asked another question (?/ ) to which he replied "two things you can't cure, cancer and stupid"..with emphasis on STUPID...

[FelineOverlord]

90. I Almost Never Answer Unknown Numbers

The only time I did recently was when I was waiting for the results of my COVID test.

[safeinOhio]

92. I still have an Ohio

Area code on my cell phone, but now live in Michigan So I only answer calls from Michigan. I pass out lots of business cards, but only in Michigan now. Those business calls are important to me. On my land line, if I don’t know the number, I pause for 5 seconds and then in my robot voice I say hello. Most robot calls hang up automatically on me by the time I say hello. If you don’t know the number, try the 5 second rule, it’s lots of fun.

[Totally Tunsie]

94. Like others here, such calls go unanswered.

There are times, however, when I DO recognize the caller...it's ME! Yeah, I've been "spoofed" where my number shows up as calling me. Don't answer those even though I know the "caller"!

I admit to feeling badly when I read of DUers who are phone banking in earnest for Joe & Kamala b/c I know they're putting in more effort than I to elect our candidate, and I'm not assisting them by not answering. How does one know, though, which calls to accept? Better not to answer any.

[Vinca]

100. We never do - especially during election season.

It's either pollsters, people who want money (I refuse to donate over the phone) or the fake Amazon credit card scam.

[Dem2]

103. So, now we're questioning the polls

like wingnuts were yesterday?

Let me off this plane, you're shooting my anxiety through the roof!!

[BainsBane]

104. Most

But pollsters know that.

[keithbvadu2]

107. Knock, knock! Ring, ring!

[still_one]

114. That is great!!!

[WyattKansas]

111. I never answer and all calls are screened.

If it is a necessary call, a voicemail will be left for me to return the call. If it has a number I do not recognize, especially if no voicemail is left, then I do a search of the number and it mostly makes the block list.

Oddly enough, if you have a need for any part of the government to have your phone number, the junk/spam calls that really are frauds GREATLY increases.

[leftyladyfrommo]

113. I don't answer. nt

[shanti]

119. That would be me. n/t

[birdographer]

124. We don't answer

and if the caller does not leave a message, the number gets blocked (landline; no cell service for voice here in the mountains). We get legitimate calls at a rate of about one in fifty.

[AnotherDreamWeaver]

129. I only have a land line, no caller ID, so now I let the message machine answer all calls

If it's someone I know and they start to leave a message I pick up the phone. Lots of calls leave no message, I got tired of the calls from the police organization wanting donations. Was getting that daily.