Boringly Reliable Polls – the Divisive but Critical Business of Consumer Polling
By Rob Berger, Managing the Director, Maru/Blue | August 19, 2019
Recent polls, including those conducted by Maru/Blue, have generated some lively debate among certain political leaders, who are naturally sensitive to the impact that positive – or negative – poll results can have on their reputation.
It’s always important to question polling quality. Low quality sample is becoming a growing concern around the globe across the research industry. In recent years, more poor-quality polls (combined with an over-enthusiastic media) have caused many to question the validity of survey research. There are many sources that are misleading and a growing number of bias sources. At Maru/Blue we take great care to treat our respondents with respect and continuously test the validity and reliability of our market communities by tracking the same results over time. The result? Communities that are consistent, accurate and reliable.
To ensure an accurate reflection of the voice of the consumer, panels need to be representative and consistent. Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight website aggregates election polls and makes predictions based on those aggregations. They weighted the polls based on accuracy. Polls run on our Maru Springboard America panel had the highest “Elections Correctly Called” and the lowest “Difference from Actual” among those online sources. We were also #1 in both categories in their 2016 analysis.
Several polling companies use our Maru Voice Canada opt-in online panel because they trust the results and know that our communities are consistent, accurate and reliable. We tirelessly continue to ensure our communities are of the utmost quality so our valued clients will continue to receive quality responses that produce actionable insights they can count on.