AAPOR Statements on "Push" Polls

The problem of so-called “push polls”

When advocacy calls are made under the guise of research

One or only a few questions are asked, all about a single candidate or a single issue.

The questions are uniformly strongly negative (or sometimes uniformly positive) descriptions of the candidate or issue.

The organization conducting the calls is not named, or a phony name is used.

Evasive answers are given in response to requests for more information about the survey.

The number of people called is very large, sometimes many thousands.

The calls are not based on a random sample.

It is difficult to find out which organization conducted the interviews.

At the beginning of the call, the interviewer clearly identifies the call center actually making the calls. (However, legitimate political polling firms will often choose not to identify the client who is sponsoring the research, be it a candidate or a political party, since that could bias the survey results.)

The interview contains more than a few questions.

The questions usually ask about more than one candidate or mention both sides of an issue.

Questions, usually near the end of the interview, ask respondents to report demographic characteristics such as age, education level, and party identification.

The survey is based on a random sample of voters.

The number of respondents falls within the range of legitimate surveys, typically between 400 and 1500 interviews.

AAPOR Councils have repeatedly warned members and the public about the harm done by unethical political telemarketing that is conducted under the guise of research.

The AAPOR Code identifies fraudulent political polling as unethical conduct. The Code states: "We will not misrepresent our research or conduct other activities (such as sales, fundraising, or political campaigning) under the guise of conducting research" [section I.A.2.].

identifies fraudulent political polling as unethical conduct. The Code states: "We will not misrepresent our research or conduct other activities (such as sales, fundraising, or political campaigning) under the guise of conducting research" [section I.A.2.]. AAPOR has reacted to complaints about suspected “push polls” and conducted investigations.

AAPOR urges its members and the media to uncover instances of political telemarketing under the guise of research and help us alert the public promptly when these fraudulent political polls occur.