For a poll of about 1,000 people, what's the typical margin of error?
Answerabout ±3%
A sample of 500 to 1,000 people is the typical compromise pollsters use to balance cost against accuracy.
Source: Wikipedia: Opinion poll en.wikipedia.org
Society · Facts & sources
Polling facts & stats
4 sourced facts about surveys, polling and public-opinion research, each with the context behind the number. 4 more are in today's round and appear here after it closes.
The basics
About what share of the world's adult population does Gallup's World Poll now cover?
Answer99%
Gallup surveys people in more than 160 countries to reach that level of coverage.
Source: Gallup (2005) gallup.com
Going deeper
From roughly 9% in earlier years to 6% by 2018, how much did Pew's phone survey response rate fall?
Answerfrom about 9% to 6%
Despite the decline, Pew's own research found response rates weren't a reliable predictor of a poll's accuracy.
Source: Pew Research Center (2018) pewresearch.org
A 2010 study of 100,000 online surveys found response rates dropped by about how much by question 20?
Answerabout 6%
The same study found the drop-off actually slowed for even longer surveys, with only a 10% reduction by 40 questions.
Source: Wikipedia: Survey methodology (2010) en.wikipedia.org
Think you'd have guessed them?Today's round is four stats like these plus one opinion poll. Your streak and level follow you to every site.Play today's round