How many people were interviewed for the survey?
This is another basic piece of information you should have. Because polls give approximate answers, the more people interviewed in a scientific poll, the smaller the error due to the size of the sample, all other things being equal. However, a common trap to avoid is that more is automatically better. It is absolutely true that the more people interviewed in a reliable survey, the smaller the sampling error – all other things being equal. But, other factors may be more important in judging the quality of a survey. 4. How were those people chosen? The key reason that some polls reflect public opinion accurately and other are unscientific junk is how the people were chosen to be interviewed. In scientific polls, the pollster uses a specific method for picking respondents. In unscientific polls, the person picks himself to participate. The method pollsters use to pick interviewees relies on the bedrock of mathematical reality: when the chance of selecting each person in the target populat
